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or  THE   ; 


PICTORIAL  LIFE 


OF 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON: 


EMBRACING 


A  COMPLETE   HISTORY 


THE  SEVEN  YEARS'  WAR,  THE  REVOLUTIONARY  WAR,  THE 

FORMATION  OF  THE  FEDERAL  CONSTITUTION,  AND 

THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  WASHINGTON. 


BY  J.  FROST,  LL.D. 

AUTHOR  OF  "PICTORIAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD,"  ETC. 


WITH    UPWARDS   OF    ONE    HUNDRED   ENGRAVINGS, 
BY    OROOME    &    DEVEREUX. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
CHARLES  J.  GILLIS,  46£  WALNUT  STREET. 

STEREOTYPED   BY  L.   JOHNSON   &   CO. 

1847. 


ENTERED  according  to  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1847,  by 

L.  JOHNSON, 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


Printed  by  T.  K.  &  P.  G.  Collins. 


WASHINGTON  was  so  completely  a  public  man,  that 
his  biography  is  necessarily  a  history  of  the  period 
in  which  he  lived.  In  compiling  the  following  nar 
rative  I  have,  therefore,  endeavoured  not  only  to  bring 
into  view  the  transactions  in  which  he  was  personally 
concerned,  but  all  those  contemporary  events  which 
were  of  sufficient  importance  to  deserve  attention  in  a 
general  history  of  the  period.  The  volume  will,  con 
sequently,  if  I  have  succeeded  in  my  design,  present  a 
history  of  Washington  and  his  times. 

The  authorities  on  which  I  have  chiefly  relied,  be 
sides  the  biographies  of  Washington  by  Ramsay,  Mar 
shall,  Paulding,  Sparks,  and  others,  are  the  general 
histories  of  the  Revolution  by  Ramsay,  Gordon,  Allen, 
Botta,  and  others;  the  correspondence  of  Washington 
and  his  cotemporaries,  state  papers  arid  documents,  and 


4  PREFACE. 

a  history  of  the  United  States,  entitled  the  Western 
World.  In  using  these  authorities  I  have  not  hesi 
tated  to  adopt  their  phraseology,  where  it  was  not  too 
diffuse  for  a  work  of  so  limited  extent  as  the  present. 
This  general  acknowledgment,  and  the  frequent  refer 
ences  in  the  foot  notes,  are  considered  sufficient  to 
enahle  the  reader  to  recognise  the  grounds  of  authen 
ticity  upon  which  the  narrative  rests. 

My  thanks  are  due  to  many  literary  friends  for  the 
assistance  they  have  rendered  me  in  the  present  under 
taking;  and  in  particular  to  Dr.  Thomas  R.  Maris, 
for  the  obliging  loan  of  the  sketch  by  Volozan,  from 
which  Mr.  Croome's  drawing  was  made  for  the  full- 
length  portrait  of  Washington  ;  and  to  my  accom 
plished  friend,  Mr.  J.  Russel  Smith,  for  the  use  of  his 
original  sketches  of  Braddock's  Field,  and  the  scenery 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Mount  Vernon. 

Whoever  has  occasion  to  examine  carefully  into  the 
history  of  the  period  in  which  Washington  lived,  will 
find  his  reverence  for  the  character  of  that  illustrious 
man  always  increasing.  The  more  intimately  one  be 
comes  acquainted  with  the  facts,  the  more  firmly  he 
becomes  convinced  that  Washington  was,  throughout 
the  whole  forming  period  of  the  republic,  the  grand 
moving  power.  Every  thing  seems  to  have  depended 
on  him.  The  leaders  of  popular  opinion  looked  to 
him  for  advice;  the  Congress  for  direction.  While 
the  war  was  (raging  he  guided  every  movement,  re- 


PREFACE.  5 

pressed  all  discontent,  infused  the  breath  of  life  into 
inert  masses,  and  created  the  means  of  efficient  war 
fare.  When  the  war  was  ended,  and  a  new  form  of 
government  became  necessary,  he  guided  the  delibera 
tions  on  which  it  was  founded.  When  its  strength  and 
efficiency  were  to  be  tested  by  experiment,  the  sove 
reign  power  was  placed  in  his  hands,  which  steered  the 
new  ship  of  the  state  through  the  most  perilous  storms, 
and  conducted  her  into  the  secure  haven  of  national 
prosperity.  He  was  present  in  every  creative  move 
ment.  The  impress  of  his  mind  is  stamped  upon  every 
great  national  institution.  Never  did  any  great  bene 
factor  of  mankind  more  faithfully  earn  his  titles,  than 
the  FATHER  OF  HIS  COUNTRY — THE  FOUNDER  OF  THE 
REPUBLIC. 


n 


CHAPTER  I. 
EARLY  LIFE Page  13 

CHAPTER  II. 
WASHINGTON  A  SURVEYOR 42 

CHAPTER  III. 

COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE  SEVEN  YEARS'  WAR 50 

CHAPTER  IV.                     * 
CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  FORT  DUQUESNE 66 

CHAPTER  V. 

NORTHERN  CAMPAIGN — BATTLE  OF  LAKE  GEORGE 87 

CHAPTER  VI. 

BORDER  WAR— FALL  OF  FORT  DUQUESNE 92 

CHAPTER  VII. 
CONQUEST  OF  CANADA 107 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
MARRIAGE  OF  WASHINGTON 114 

CHAPTER  IX. 
OPENING  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 123 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE  SECOND  CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS 179 

7 


8  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XL 
BATTLE  OF  BUNKER  HILL 192 

CHAPTER  XII. 

INVASION  OF  CANADA 196 

* 
CHAPTER  XIII. 

SIEGE  AND  EVACUATION  OF  BOSTON 204 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
CAMPAIGN  OF  1776 227 

CHAPTER  XV. 
CAMPAIGN  OF  1777 276 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
CAMPAIGN  OF  1778 323 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
CAMPAIGN  OF  1779 354 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

CAMPAIGN  OF  1780 373 

• 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
CAMPAIGN  OF  1781 398 

CHAPTER  XX. 

CLOSE  OF  THE  WAR 449 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

WASHINGTON  IN  PRIVATE  LIFE— FORMATION  OF  THE  FEDERAL  CONSTITUTION  .  472 

CHAPTER  XXlf 

ADMINISTRATION  OF  WASHINGTON — FIRST  TERM 495 

CHAPTER  XXIII.  " 
ADMINISTRATION  OF  WASHINGTON— SECOND  TERM 542 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
LAST  DAYS  OF  WASHINGTON 560 

APPENDIX  .  575 


•Ornamental  Head-Piece- 

•Tail-Piece 

•  Ornamental  Head-Piece- 


FAINTER. 

G.  T.  Devereux 


ENGRAVER. 

•G.  T.  Devereux. 


T-  «  9 
•  i 

5 

"jr 

9---.        "  "         "     "  "          H.  Bricher. 

12- •• -Tail-Piece "  "          "        " 

13 Bust  of  Washington W.  Croome "        " 

•' Initial  Letter G.  T.  Devereux G.  T.  Devereux 

16 Birth-Place  of  Washington "  "          « H.  Bricher. 

23 Washington  a  Peace-maker W.  Croome G.  T.  Devereux 

41  •••  -Tail-Piece G.  T.  Devereux " 

42-..-Carthagena "  «  " 

;<  ••• -Initial  Letter «  <;          " 

43 ••••  Admiral  Vernon «  "  «  " 

44 Washington  and  his  Mother W.  Croome " 

45 Washington  a  Surveyor G.  T.  Devereux " 

48 Voyage  to  Barbadoes "  " 

49 Tail-Piece W.  Croome " 

50 Washington  writing  his  Journal "        "       " 

•' Washington  and  Mr.  Gist "        "       B.  F.  Waitt. 

52 Initial  Letter "        "       "        " 

53....     "  «       it        "       "        " 

56 Tanacharison G.  T.  Devereux H.  Bricher. 

(31 Expedition  to  the  French  Posts W.  Croome G.  T.  Devereux. 

65 Grenadier  •  • G.  T.  Devereux "  " 

66 Magazine  of  Fort  Duquesne ;(  "          "  " 

" Initial  Letter "  "          "  " 

70----     «  "       "  «          «  « 

72....     "  "        "  »  «  « 

75--.- Franklin «  «  «'  " 

76 Initial  Letter "  "          «  " 

2  '  9 


10  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE  PAINTER.  ZNOBAVHTt. 

79 Initial  Letter G.  T.  Devereux H.  Bricher. 

80 Battle  Ground W.  T.  Russell  Smith "        " 

83 Battle  of  the  Monongahela \V.  Croome "        " 

86 Burial  of  Braddock W.  Croome "        « 

87 Lake  George G.  T.  Devereux G.  T.  Devereux. 

87 Initial  Letter "  "          4 "  " 

91 Provincial  Soldier W.  Croome u  «• 

92 Indian  Warfare "        "       "  " 

92 Initial  Letter G.  T.  Devereux "  " 

101 •  •  • -Loudoun "  "  "  " 

103- •• -Block-House  at  Fort  Duquesne Russel  Smith "  « 

106--.. British  Infantry "  "      "  " 

107 Fort  Ticonderoga G.  T.  Devereux "  " 

1 07- •• -Initial  Letter "  u          "  " 

109----Amlierst "  "          "  " 

112 General  Townshend "  "          "  " 

113 Tail-Piece "  "  " 

114 Church  at  Alexandria G.  T.  Devereux "  " 

115 Initial  Letter ••  '•  "  " 

132- ••• Tail-Piece From  a  French  Print-  •••     "  " 

123 George  Grenville From  an  English  Print- -H.  Bricher. 

123 Initial  Letter From  a  French  Print  ---G.  T.  Devereux. 

160- •• -Jay G.  T.  Ddvereux "  " 

164 Initial  Letter "  "  «  " 

166-.-.     «  «      «  u  «  u 

167.--.Earl  of  Chatham . From  a  French  Print  •••!!.  Bricher. 

169 Initial  Letter (i  "  "...     '•        " 

178 British  Infantry "  "       .  .-G.  T.  Devereux. 

179  ••  -State-House G.  T.  Devereux " 

179 Initial  Letter •'  «  "  « 

181----     "  "      «  «  »  u 

185-.-.     "  ';      From  a  Print " 

189----     "  «       u  u     u  u 

191 British  Troops ••  «     «  « 

J92 Warren G.  T.  Devereux "  " 

192 Initial  Letter «  •'  «  u 

196....Carleton «  «  H.  Bricher. 

196-  ••  -Initial  Letter -:  •'  "        « 

203- •• -General  Montgomery ;'  "  «        « 

204 Head  Quarters  at  Cambridge "  "  "        « 

204 Initial  Letter "  "  "        " 

214--.- Highland  Officer "  «  "        « 

224.--. Tail- Piece ••  u  u        » 

226.-.- New  York  in  1776 From  a  Print "        " 

227 Battle-G round  of  Yorktown *•  li     G.  T.  Devereux. 

227-  ••  -Defence  of  Fort  Moultrie G.  T.  Devereux "  " 

230 Moultrie Brown "  " 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


11 


PA.OX  PAIUTKR.  EN3RAVSR. 

253-"  Initial  Letter From  a  Print G.  T.  Devereux. 

255--..     «  "      "  «     "  " 

265-  ••  -Crossing  of  the  Delaware W.  Croome H.  Bricher. 

271 Battle  of  Princeton "        "       "        " 

276 Head-Quarters  at  Morristown G.  T.  Devereux "        " 

276 Initial  Letter "  "          "        " 

291- •• -Head-Quarters  at  Brandywine "  "          G.  T.  Devereux. 

293 Battle  of  Brandywine -W.  Croome H.  Bricher. 

298 Mr.  Chew's  House G.  T.  Devereux G.  T.  Devereux. 

309 General  Schuyler "  "          "  " 

812 Saratoga  Lake From  a  Print B.  F.  Waitt. 

3-22 Head-Quarters  at  Valley  Forge G.  T.  Devereux G.  T.  Devereux. 

3*23 Monmouth  Battle-Ground "  "          "  '; 

323 Initial  Letter W.  Croome "  " 

341 Washington  at  Monmouth "        "       «  « 

350 Valley  of  Wyoming G.  T.  Devereux " 

353 Captain  Biddle Brown "  « 

354-.. -General  Wayne G.  T.  Devereux "  « 

354--- -Initial  Letter "  "          «  " 

373 General   Lincoln "  (;  "  « 

373 Initial  Letter From  a  Print "  « 

3S4-..-Bank "  «     «  « 

392 Initial  Letter "  "     "  « 

395 Pickens G.  T.  Devereux "  " 

397 General  Gates "  «  »  « 

398 Kosciusko W.  Croome S.  F.  Baker. 

398-  ••  -Initial  Letter From  a  Print G.  T.  Devereux. 

405 Siege  of  Ninety-Six "  "     H.  Bricher. 

411 Initial  Letter "  "     "        " 

413 »  «      «  it    «        n 

417 Arnold's  Descent  on  Virginia "              "     «  « 

435 Battle-Ground  of  Yorktown "              "     ('  « 

443 Surrender  of  Cornwallis W.  Croome "  " 

448-- --Lee G.  T.  Devereux G.  T.  Devereux. 

449 General  Greene "            «           "  « 

449 Initial  Letter «            "           «  « 

471 Colonel  Washington "            "           «  « 

472- ••• Madison  "            "           «  « 

472 Initial  Letter "           "          "  " 

473 View  of  Mount  Vernon Russell  Smith "  " 

492 Tail-Piece  G.  T.  Devereux "  " 

494 Portrait  of  Washington W.  Croome "  " 

495-... Hamilton "        "       «  « 

495 Initial  Letter "        "       «  « 

512 Treaty From  a  Prussian  Print- -H.  Bricher. 

537 Initial  Letter G.  T.  Devereux "  " 

541  ••••Tail-Piece "           "          «  « 


12  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAQ«  PAINTER. 

542-  ••  -Portrait  of  Washington W.  Croome 

542-  •  •  -Initial  Letter G.  T.  Devereux- 

547 Monroe "  " 

553-.-. Pickering "  " 

559-.. -Tail-Piece " 

560- .--New  Tomb  of  Washington "  "      *• 

560- •• -Initial  Letter "  " 

561 Summer-House  at  Mt.  Vernon Russell  Smith 

567----Old  Tomb From  a  Print--- 


ENORAVER. 

•  H.  Bricher. 

•G.  T.  Devereux. 


EasfTV  ) 


CHAPTER    I. 


HEN  in  the  progress  of  the  world's  affairs, 
a  great  work  is  to  be  accomplished,  the 
reformation  of  religion,  the  discovery  of  a 
new  world,  the  subjection  of  barbarous 
nations  to  the  mild  sway  of  civilization, 
the  resistance  of  political  oppression,  or 
the  founding  of  a  great  republic,  it  appears 
to  be  the  order  of  Divine  Providence  to  raise 
up  and  prepare  a  great  man  for  effecting  the  object.  Such  a  man  was 
GEORGE  WASHINGTON.  He  was  the  chosen  instrument  for  laying 
the  foundations  of  the  republic  on  whose  prosperity  and  perpetuity 
the  hopes  of  human  freedom  rest.  Born  and  educated  in  the  ranks 

B  13 


14  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

of  the  people,  early  trained  to  the  endurance  of  hardship,  endowed 
with  extraordinary  courage,  circumspection,  foresight  and  self- 
reliance,  he  found  himself  placed,  by  the  suffrages  of  his  fellow- 
citizens,  at  the  head  of  that  grand  movement  which  was  to  detach 
his  country  from  her  state  of  colonial  dependence,  and  render 
her  the  noblest  empire  of  modern  times;  and  haying  by  deliberate 
examination  convinced  himself  of  the  justice  of  her  cause,  he 
devoted  his  whole  life  to  the  great  work  which  he  had  been  raised 
up  to  accomplish,  the  successful  assertion  of  her  independence 
and  the  complete  organization  of  her  free  institutions.  No  man 
was  ever  charged  with  a  higher  mission.  None  ever  performed 
his  mission  with  more  complete  success.  Every  step  in  the 
onward  march  of  the  republic  affords  a  new  proof  of  the  great 
ness  of  its  founder.  Our  future  glories  can  never  exceed  the 
grandeur  of  his  conceptions ;  for  we  have  only  to  examine  his 
actions  and  his  writings  in  order  to  see  that  he  anticipated  all- 
believed  all — provided  for  all — and  that  he  laid  the  foundations 
deep  enough,  broad  enough,  to  sustain  any  superstructure  of 
national  greatness  that  can  ever  be  raised  upon  them. 

As  our  country  advances  in  prosperity  and  power,  it  becomes 
more  and  more  interesting  and  important  for  us  to  recur  to  those 
trying  times  in  which  its  institutions  were  formed,  and  its  liberties 
defended;  and  to  recognise  in  the  exalted  character  of  its  ac 
knowledged  FATHER,  the  elements  of  its  greatness  and  strength. 
The  life  of  Washington  has  already  furnished  a  subject  for  some 
of  the  most  distinguished  writers  in  America;  but  it  still  offers  a 
fertile  theme ;  it  presents  new  aspects  as  the  country  continues  to 
fulfil  the  destinies  which  he  foresaw;  it  is  hoped  and  believed, 
therefore,  that  a  new  attempt  to  recount  the  actions  of  his  life,  to 
recommend  his  virtues  to  the  imitation  of  his  countrymen,  and  to 
enforce  his  principles  of  conduct  in  public  and  private  life,  may 
be  regarded  with  indulgence,  even  though  this  attempt  should  be 
supported  by  little  more  than  a  sincere  reverence  for  his  charactei 
and  an  earnest  desire  to  do  justice  to  his  merits. 

Many  of  the  most  illustrious  benefactors  of  mankind  have  been 
not  less  remarkable  for  the  obscurity  of  their  origin  than  for  the 
greatness  of  their  destiny ;  but  Washington  sprung  from  a  family 
whose  name  had  already  become  known  to  history.  Mr.  Sparks 
has  traced  his  ancestry  back  to  the  thirteenth  century,  and  has 
recognised  the  name  in  the  local  records  of  the  county  histories 
as  belonging  to  men  of  ample  fortunes  and  respectable  characters. 
Sir  Henry  Washington  was  a  colonel  in  the  army  of  Charles  I. 


WASHINGTON'S   ANCESTORS.  15 

and  his  good  conduct  at  the  capture  of  Bristol,  in  1643,  is  noticed 
by  Clarendon.  Hume,  ia  his  account  of  the  same  event,  (as  quoted 
by  Paulding,)  has  the  following  passage: — "One  party,  led  by 
Lord  Grandison,  was  beaten  off,  and  its  commander  mortally 
wounded.  Another,  conducted  by  Lord  Bellasis,  met  with  a  like 
fate.  But  Washington,  with  a  less  party,  finding  a  place  in  the 
curtain  weaker  than  the  rest,  broke  in,  and  quickly  made  room 
for  the  horse  to  follow."  He  was  afterwards  governor  of  Wor 
cester,  and  defended  the  place  bravely  for  three  months  against 
the  parliamentary  forces.  Two  uncles  of  this  Colonel  Washington, 
John  and  Lawrence  Washington,  emigrated  to  Virginia  about  the 
year  1657,  and  settled  at  Bridge'sOeek,  afterwards  called  Pope's 
Creek,  on  the  Potomac  River,  in  the  county  of  Westmoreland. 
John  married  Anne  Pope  of  the  same  county,  and  gave  his  name 
to  the  parish  in  which  he  lived.  He  served  as  lieutenant-colonel 
in  the  wars  against  the  Indians.  He  had  two  sons,  Lawrence 
and  John,  and  a  daughter,  Ann.  To  Lawrence  Washington,  the 
elder  son,  he  bequeathed  the  estate  on  which  he  lived,  then  called 
the  Pope's  Creek  Farm. 

Lawrence  Washington  married  Mildred  Warner,  daughter  of 
Colonel  Augustine  Warner,  by  whom  he  had  two  sons,  John  and 
Augustine,  and  a  daughter,  Mildred. 

Augustine  Washington,  the  second  son  of  Lawrence,  was  twice 
married.  By  his  first  wife,  Jane  Butler,  he  had  four  children, 
Butler,  Lawrence,  Augustine  and  Jane.  Of  these,  Butler  and 
Jane  died  in  infancy.  Lawrence  and  Augustine  attained  to  man 
hood.  His  second  wife  was  Mary  Ball,  a  young  lady  of  fortune, 
from  one  of  the  first  families  in  Virginia.  To  her  he  was  married 
on  the  6th  of  March,  1730,  being  then  in  his  thirty-seventh  year. 
Of  this  union  GEORGE  was  the  first  fruit.  He  was  the  eldest  of 
six  children,  by  the  second  marriage  of  his  father,  viz. : ^GEORGE, 
Betty,  Samuel,  John  Augustine,  Charles,  and  Mildred.  Mildred 
died  when  sixteen  months  old. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON  was  born  in  the  parish  of  Washington, 
Westmoreland  county,  Virginia,  on  the  22d  of  February,  1732, 
being  the  great-grandson  of  John  Washington,  the  founder  of  the 
family  in  America.  The  house  in  which  he  was  born  stood  on 
Pope's  Creek,  about  half  a  mile  from  the  Potomac ;  but  it  was 
either  burned  or  pulled  down  some  time  before  the  commence 
ment  of  the  Revolution.  Its  site  is  now  designated  by  a  stone, 
placed  there  by  Mr.  Custis,  bearing  this  inscription — "Here  on 


16 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


THE      BIRTHPLACE      OF     WASHINGTON. 


the  llth  of  February,  (Old  Style)  1732,  GEORGE  WASHINGTON 
was  born."  Mr.  Paulding  thus  describes  the  place: 

"A  few  scanty  relics  alone  remain  to  mark  the  spot,  which  will 
ever  be  sacred  in  the  eyes  of  posterity.  A  clump  of  old  decayed 
fig  trees, , probably  coeval  with  the  mansion,  yet  exists ;  and  a 
number  of  vines,  and  shrubs,  and  flowers  still  reproduce  them 
selves  every  year,  as  if  to  mark  its  site,  and  flourish  among  the 
hallowed  ruins.  The  spot  is  of  the  deepest  interest,  not  only 
irom  its  associations,  but  its  natural  beauties.  It  commands  a 
view  of  the  Maryland  shore  of  the  Potomac,  one  of  the  most 
majestic  of  rivers,  and  of  its  course  for  many  miles  towards  the 
Chesapeake  Bay.  An  aged  gentleman,  still  living  in  the  neigh 
borhood,  remembers  the  house  in  which  Washington  was  born. 
It  was  a  low-pitched,  single-storied,  frame  building,  with  four 
rooms  on  the  first  floor,  and  an  enormous  chimney  at  each  end 
on  the  outside.  This  was  the  style  of  the  better  sort  of  houses 
in  those  days,  and  they  are  still  occasionally  seen  in  the  old  set 
tlements  of  Virginia."* 

Washington's  parents  were  members  of  the  Episcopal  Church, 
the  prevailing  form  of  religion  at  that  time  in  Virginia ;  and,  ac 
cording  to  its  forms,  he  was  baptized  on  the  16th  of  April,  1732. 
His  early  instruction  appears  to  have  been  of  a  religious,  but  by 

*  Paulding's  Life  of  Washington. 


HIS    EARLY    TRAINING.  17 

no  means  of  a  bigoted  or  ascetic  character.  That  his  father  was 
extremely  anxious  to  imbue  his  mind  with  the  love  of  truth,  has 
been  illustrated  by  several  anecdotes ;  and  that  he  was  successful 
is  evident,  not  less  in  the  conduct  of  George's  youth,  than  in  the 
frankness  of  his  political  course,  when,  as  President  of  the  United 
States,  he  insisted  on  sincerity  in  all  the  diplomatic  declarations 
of  his  public  envoys. 

From  the  indications  which  we  have  of  George's  earliest 
studies,  the  books  presented  to  him  by  his  father  must  have  been 
carefully  chosen  with  reference  to  their  moral  and  religious  ten 
dency.  The  direction  thus  given  to  young  aspirations,  was  to 
wards  that  elevated  character  which  his  subsequent  life  exhibited ; 
and  the  fact  should  not  escape  the  attention  of  those  parents  who 
are  desirous  to  train  up  their  children  in  the  paths  of  virtue  and 
honour.  "The  child  is  father  of  the  man."  The  moral  tenden 
cies,  good  or  bad,  of  childhood,  are  seldom  eradicated  in  after 
life.  It  is  with  this  conviction,  and  at  the  risk  perhaps  of  being 
considered  as  detracting  from  the  dignity  of  our  subject,  that  we 
give  some  incidents  of  Washington's  life,  which  illustrate  his 
father's  system  of  early  training. 

Mr.  Weems,  the  Rector  of  Mount  Vernon  parish,  relates  the 
following  anecdote  of  an  old  lady  who  had  spent  many  years  of 
her  youthful  days  in  the  Washington  family. 

"On  a  fine  morning  in  the  fall  of  1737,  Mr.  Washington,  hav 
ing  little  George  by  the  hand,  came  to  the  door  and  asked  my 
cousin  Washington  and  myself  to  walk  with  him  to  the  orchard, 
promising  he  would  show  us  a  fine  sight.  On  arriving  at  the 
orchard  we  were  presented  with  a  fine  sight  indeed.  The  whole 
earth,  as  far  as  we  could  see,  was  strewed  with  fruit,  and  yet  the 
trees  were  bending  under  the  weight  of  apples,  which  hung  in 
clusters  like  grapes,  and  vainly  strove  to  hide  their  blushing 
cheeks  behind  the  green  leaves.  <Now,  George,'  said  his  father, 
'look  here,  my  son!  Don't  you  remember  when  this  good  cousin 
of  yours  brought  you  that  fine  large  apple  last  spring,  how  hardly 
I  could  prevail  on  you  to  divide  with  your  brothers  and  sisters, 
though  I  promised  you  that  if  you  would  but  do  it,  the  Almighty 
would  give  you  plenty  of  apples  this  fall?'  Poor  George  could 
not  say  a  word,  but  hanging  down  his  head,  looked  quite  con 
fused,  while,  with  his  little  naked  toes,  he  scratched  the  soft 
ground.  'Now  look  up,  my  son,'  continued  his  father,  <look  up 
George,  and  see  there,  how  richly  the  Almighty  has  made  good 
my  promise  to  you!  Wherever  you  turn  your  eyes,  you  see  the 
3 


18  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

trees  loaded  with  fine  fruit;  many  of  them,  indeed,  breaking 
down,  while  the  ground  is  covered  with  mellow  apples,  more  than 
you  could  ever  eat,  my  son,  in  your  lifetime.'  George  looked 
in  silence  on  the  wide  wilderness  of  fruit;  then  lifting  his  eyes, 
filled  with  shining  moisture,  to  his  father,  he  softly  said,  <Well, 
pa,  only  forgive  me  this  time,  see  if  I  ever  «be  so  stingy  any 
more.' ' 

It  was  also  the  purpose  of  Mr.  Washington  to  create  in  his 
son  an  early  love  of  truth,  and  an  abhorrence  of  every  thing  like 
deception.  He  often  talked  with  him  on  this  subject,  and  that  his 
lectures  were  not  wasted,  but  sown  on  good  ground,  is  evident 
from  the  following  anecdote,  which  rests  on  the  same  authority 
as  the  one  recorded  above. 

"When  George  was  about  six  years  old,  he  became  the  happy 
owner  of  a  hatchet,  of  which,  like  most  little  boys,  he  was  immo 
derately  fond,  and  was  constantly  going  about  chopping  every  thing 
that  came  in  his  way.  One  day  in  the  garden,  where  he  often 
amused  himself,  he  unluckily  tried  the  edge  of  his  hatchet  on  the 
body  of  a  beautiful  young  English  cherry-tree,  which  he  barked 
so  terribly,  that  I  believe  the  tree  never  got  the  better  of  it.  The 
next  morning,  the  old  gentleman,  finding  out  what  had  befallen  his 
tree,  which,  by-the-by,  was  a  great  favourite  with  him,  came  into 
the  house,  and  with  much  warmth  asked  for  the  mischievous 
author,  declaring  at  the  same  time,  that  he  would  not  have  taken 
five  guineas  for  his  tree.  Nobody  could  tell  him  any  thing  about 
it.  Presently  George  and  his  hatchet  made  their  appearance. 
<•  George,'  said  his  father,  <do  you  know  who  killed  that  beautiful 
little  cherry-tree  yonder  in  the  garden?'  George  was  taken  by 
surprise,  and  for  a  moment  staggered  under  the  question;  but  he 
quickly  recovered  himself,  and  looking  at  his  father  with  the 
sweet  face  of  youth  brightened  with  the  inexpressible  charm  of 
all-conquering  truth,  he  bravely  cried  out,  <I  can't  tell  a  lie,  pa, 
you  know  I  can't  tell  a  lie  ;  I  cut  it  with  my  hatchet.'  <Run  to 
my  arms,  my  dearest  boy,'  cried  the  delighted  father,  'run  to  my 
arms.  Glad  am  I,  George,  that  you  killed  the  tree,  for  you  have 
paid  me  for  it  a  thousand  fold!  Such  an  act  of  heroism  in  my 
son,  is  worth  more  than  a  thousand  trees,  though  their  blossoms 
were  silver  and  their  fruits  the  purest  gold.' '  Such  lessons, 
communicated  in  such  a  way,  it  is  not  easy  to  eradicate. 

At  an  early  age  George  was  sent  to  a  school  kept  by  a  man 
named  Hobby,  who  not  only  exercised  the  responsible  functions 
of  schoolmaster,  but  also  those  of  sexton  and  grave-digger  to  the 


DEATH    OF    HIS    FATHER.  19 

parish  of  Washington.  Accomplished  teachers  were  not  so 
common  in  those  days  as  at  present ;  and  the  practice  which  pre 
vailed  before  the  Revolution,  of  sending  boys  to  England  to  be 
educated,  was  by  no  means  favourable  to  the  encouragement 
of  good  schools  in  the  colonies.  George's  first  schoolmaster 
appears  to  have  been  one  of  the  humblest  pretensions;  and  he 
was  soon  surpassed  by  his  pupil.  The  old  man  lived,  it  is 
said,  to  see  Washington  in  the  meridian  of  his  glory,  and  in 
his  latter  days  he  used  to  boast  with  a  pardonable  complacency, 
that  "it  was  he  who  laid  the  foundation  of  George  Washington's 
greatness." 

WThen  George  was  about  seven  years  old,  his  father  removed 
from  his  farm  on  Pope's  Creek,  to  another  owned  by  him  in  Staf 
ford  county,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Rappahannoc  river, 
directly  opposite  Fredericksburg.  There  he  lived  till  the  12th 
of  April,  1743,  when  he  died,  after  a  short  illness,  at  the  age  of 
forty-nine  years. 

Mr.  Washington  was  taken  sick  during  the  Easter  holidays, 
when  George  was  absent  on  a  visit  to  some  of  his  acquaintances 
in  Chotanct,  King  George's  County.  As  soon  as  his  sickness 
became  serious,  George  was  sent  for,  and  he  arrived  in  time  to 
receive  the  parting,  though  silent  blessing  of  his  beloved  parent. 
His  father  was  speechless  when  he  arrived,  and  the  parting  be 
tween  them  wras  extremely  affecting.  The  moment  he  alighted, 
he  ran  into  the  chamber  in  which  his  father  lay  expiring;  but 
who  can  paint  the  feelings  that  darted  through  his  mind,  as  he 
beheld  the  change  before  him !  Those  eyes,  lately  so  loving  and 
bright,  now  robbed  of  all  their  lustre,  were  fixed  on  him  from  the 
depths  of  their  sunken  sockets  ;  and,  through  swelling  tears,  in 
mute,  but  melting  language,  seemed  to  bid  him  a  last  farewell. 
With  sobs  and  cries,  he  fell  upon  his  father's  neck,  kissed  him 
many  times,  and  bathed  his  cold,  pale  face,  with  tears. 

Though  in  the  death  of  his  father,  George  lost  his  best  friend, 
his  more  immediate  and  hourly  adviser,  yet  the  event  seems  to 
have  been  consecrated  to  his  good,  by  strengthening  in  his  heart 
and  memory  the  salutary  lessons  which  that  friend  had  taken  so 
much  care  early  to  inculcate.  It  also  threw  him  more  into  the 
society  of  his  excellent  mother,  who  completed  the  moral  training 
which  we  have  seen  so  happily  commenced  by  his  father. 

Mr.  Washington  left  to  each  of  his  sons  a  separate  plantation. 
To  Lawrence,  the  eldest,  he  bequeathed  an  estate  near  Hunting 
Creek,  afterwards  called  Mount  Vernon,  and  shares  in  productive 


20  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

iron  works,  situated  in  various  parts  of  Virginia  and  Maryland. 
To  Augustine,  the  second  son,  he  left  an  estate  in  Westmoreland 
County.  To  George,  the  lands  and  mansion  in  Stafford  County, 
where  his  father  died ;  and  to  each  of  his  other  sons  an  estate  of 
six  or  seven  hundred  acres.  Betty,  his  only  surviving  daughter, 
was  handsomely  provided  for;  and  everything  was  placed  in  the 
hands  of  Mrs.  Washington,  until  her  children  should  respectively 
become  of  age.*"  Thus  was  George  Washington,  at  the  early  age 
of  eleven  years,  left  to  the  guardianship  of  his  mother. 

Well  did  Mrs.  Washington  fulfil  her  trust.  It  is  impossible  for 
the  human  race  to  estimate  the  debt  which  they  owe  her  for  the 
manner  in  which  she  trained  the  young  hero.  Mrs.  Mary  WTash- 
ington  has  been  described  by  those  who  \vere  intimately  ac 
quainted  with  her,  as  being  of  the  ordinary  stature,  and  possess 
ing  great  personal  beauty;  indeed,  her  beauty  \vas  so  great  that 
she  was  known  throughout  the  colony  as  "the  belle  of  the  Northern 
Neck."  She  was  high-spirited,  and  possessed  uncommon  strength 
of  mind  and  decision  of  character,  coupled  with  great  simplicity 
of  manners.  Washington's  inflexible  regard  to  the  performance 
of  the  minute  duties  of  life,  on  which  the  happiness  of  himself 
and  all  who  were  connected  with  him  depended ;  and  his  strict 
punctuality  in  keeping  his  word,  and  discharging  all  the  obliga 
tions  of  justice,  may  be  traced  back  to  the  early  influence  and 
example  of  his  mother.  She  was  remarkable  for  her  truth  of 
purpose,  her  hospitality,  and  for  all  those  domestic  habits  and  qua 
lities  which  are  so  much  more  becoming  to  women  than  the  most 
fashionable  accomplishments  of  the  present  day.  She  was  dis 
tinguished  for  her  good  sense,  the  control  which  she  exercised 
over  her  children,  her  great  and  exemplary  piety ;  and  she  was 
well  calculated  to  complete  that  work  which  her  husband  had 
commenced,  the  religious  training  of  her  offspring.  She  had 
always,  no  doubt,  united  cordially  with  him  in  his  attempt  to 
"bring  up  her  children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the 
Lord;"  but  now  the  whole  burden  falling  upon  her,  the  fidelity 
with  which  she  exercised  her  trust,  and  her  fitness  for  the  delicate 
office,  approved  by  her  success,  stand  out  in  bolder  characters. 
Of  the  harmony  of  sentiment  existing  in  this  respect  between  her 
and  Mr.  Washington,  and  of  the  high  estimate  in  which  she  held 
the  virtue  of  truth,  let  the  following  incident,  resting  on  undoubted 
authority,  bear  witness. 

Mrs.  Washington  was  at  all  times  fond  of  fine  horses.     Shortly 

*  Sparks's  Life  of  Washington. 


ANECDOTE    OF    THE    COLT.  21 

after  the  death  of  her  husband  she  owned  a  colt,  which,  on  ac 
count  of  its  many  fine  qualities,  was  a  particular  favourite,  and 
had  never  been  broken  to  the  saddle,  though  it  was  old  enough 
to  have  been  broken  long  before.  George  had  frequently  ad 
mired  this  colt,  as  it  pranced  around  the  field,  proudly  snuffing 
up  the  air,  wheeling  and  halting,  and  displaying  its  fine  propor* 
tions,  and  more  than  once  he  \vished  that  he  was  upon  its  back. 
It  happened  one  day,  that  he  told  his  wishes  to  some  of  his  com 
panions,  and  engaged  them  to  meet  him  early  the  next  morning, 
when,  with  their  assistance,  he  would  have  a  ride.  Accordingly, 
the  little  party  assembled  the  following  day,  soon  after  sunrise,  and 
repaired  to  the  field  where  the  young  Arabian  was  kept,  at  no 
great  distance  from  the  house.  With  some  effort  they  contrived 
to  pen  him,  and  with  still  more  effort  to  put  a  bridle  upon  him. 
Several  took  hold  of  the  bridle,  while  the  athletic  youngster,  with 
a  single  leap,  vaulted  upon  his  back.  The  necessary  conse 
quences  of  such  an  undertaking  now  took  place.  A  desperate 
struggle  followed  between  the  horse  and  his  rider.  For  a  long 
time,  the  contest  continued  doubtful,  till  at  length  in  the  fury  of 
his  plunges,  the  noble  animal  falling  headlong,  burst  a  blood 
vessel,  which  produced  almost  instant  death.  By  this  fall,  George 
received  no  injury.  But  it  grieved  him  to  see  lying  before  him 
the  lifeless  body  of  the  spirited  animal,  whose  death  he  was  now 
sensible  had  been  occasioned  by  his  censurable  folly  and  rashness. 
His  mother  too,  and  her  fondness  for  this  animal,  came  crowd 
ing  upon  him,  to  render  his  trouble  still  more  distressing.  Shortly 
after,  a  call  to  breakfast  was  heard.  Some  of  the  companions  of 
George  had  been  invited  to  breakfast  with  him  that  morning;  and 
now,  however  much  they  might  have  desired  to  have  been  excused, 
they  went  in,  and  were  soon  seated  at  the  table.  For  a  time,  little 
was  said,  less  than  usual.  At  length,  Mrs.  Washington,  breaking  the 
silence,  inquired  \vhether  they  had  seen  her  fine  sorrel  colt  in  their 
rambles.  To  this  none  of  the  boys  replied,  and  the  question  was 
repeated.  There  was  now  no  escape.  The  case  wras  to  be  met, 
and  met  at  once.  The  integrity  of  George  had  been  tried  in  still 
younger  days;  and  now,  that  it  was  again  tried,  it  nobly  stood 
the  test.  He  replied  to  the  question  put  by  his  mother.  "Your 
sorrel  colt  is  dead,  mother."  "Dead,  George,"  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Washington,  with  much  surprise,  "dead,  do  you  say?"  her  hands 
relaxing  from  some  service  which  she  was  performing  at  the 
table.  "Yes,  he  is  dead."  "How  happened  it,  George?"  "I 
will  tell  you,  mother.  I  am  the  only  one  in  fault."  And  then  he 


22  LIFE    OF   WASHINGTON. 

proceeded  to  give  her  a  circumstantial  and  correct  account  of  the 
whole  transaction.  Before  the  story  was  ended,  the  flush,  which 
had  for  a  short  time  arisen  upon  the  cheek  of  Mrs.  Washington, 
an  evidence  of  her  displeasure,  had  all  passed  away,  and  in  con 
clusion,  she  observed,  quite  kindly  and  calmly:  " While  I  regret 
the  loss  of  my  favourite,  /  rejoice  in  my  son  who  always  speaks  the 
truth." 

Such  was  the  mother  of  our  great  Washington.  She  daily 
laboured  to  teach  her  children  the  first  principles  of  religion,  as 
laid  down  and  established  in  the  Bible,  and  in  the  formularies  of 
the  Church  of  England,  and  to  inculcate  upon  them  the  fear  of 
God,  and  the  strict  observance  of  the  moral  virtues,  such  as  truth, 
justice,  charity,  humility,  temperance,  and  industry.  In  these 
laudable  and  pious  efforts  she  was  aided  by  the  daily  use  of  a 
volume  with  the  title  of  "  Contemplations ,  Moral  and  Divine,  by 
Sir  Matthew  Hale,  Knight,  late  Chief  Justice  of  the  King's  Bench." 
She  made  it  her  daily  practice  to  read  extracts  from  that  book  to 
her  children.  From  her  the  book  passed  to  George,  but  at  what 
time  is  not  known.  It  was  found  after  his  death,  in  his  library  at 
Mount  Vernon,  with  his  mother's  name,  "Mary  Washington," 
written  in  it  with  her  own  hand,  and  is  now  in  the  possession  of 
the  owner  of  Mount  Vernon.  It  bears  the  marks  of  having  been 
much  used,  and  particular  chapters  are  designated  by  marks  of 
reference.  This  book,  filled  with  lessons  of  virtue  and  wisdom, 
clothed  in  the  language  of  sincerity  and  truth,  is  the  work  of  a 
pious  and  enlightened  sage,  whose  whole  life  exemplified  his  pre 
cepts;  and  without  doubt  it  contributed  much  in  forming  the 
character  of  a  man  whose  actions,  great  as  they  were,  scarcely 
conferred  greater  benefit  upon  his  country  than  posterity  is  now 
deriving,  and  will  always  continue  to  derive,  from  his  example. 
In  contemplating  this  circumstance,  we  feel  that  a  debt  of  grati 
tude  is  due  to  the  illustrious  man  who  gave  himself  to  the  labour 
of  writing  such  a  book  in  the  midst  of  the  duties  of  his  high  office. 
Though  he  had  been  abundantly  rewarded  by  the  fruits  which 
have  been  gathered  from  the  good  seed  which  he  has  sown,  even 
if  his  work  had  been  blessed  in  but  this  single  instance,  yet  the 
debt  of  gratitude  which  America  owes  him  can  never,  till  the  end 
of  time,  be  fully  paid.  Neither  should  we  forget  what  we  owe  to 
the  mother  of  Washington,  who  stored  the  mind  of  her  son  with 
the  inestimable  wisdom  contained  in  this  book,  and  then  gave  it 
to  him,  to  constitute,  along  with  his  Bible,  "a  light  to  his  feet  and 
a  lamp. to  his  path." 


WASHINGTON    A    PEACEMAKER. 


23 


She  also  had  her  reward:  for  she  lived  to  see  all  her  children  fill 
ing  the  stations  allotted  to  them,  with  honor  to  themselves  and  her. 

A  few  months  after  the  death  of  his  father,  George  was  sent  to 
Westmoreland  to  reside  with  his  half-brother,  Augustine,  princi 
pally  for  the  purpose  of  attending  a  respectable  school  in  the 
neighbourhood,  kept  by  Mr.  Williams.  While  a  pupil  of  Mr.  Wil 
liams,  he  maintained  the  good  character  which  he  had  already 
gained.  He  soon  acquired  such  a  reputation  for  veracity,  impar 
tiality,  and  sound  judgment,  among  his  schoolmates,  that  he  was 


WASHINGTON     A    PEACEMAKER. 


made  umpire  in  all  their  disputes  ;  and  his  decision  was  almost 
always  satisfactory.  He  never  quarreled  with  any  of  them,  nor 
would  he  consent  to  see  them  fight  among  themselves ;  if  he  could 
prevent  it  in  no  other  way,  he  would  notify  the  teacher  of  their 
brutal  design.  For  this  the  boys  were  often  angry  with  him,  but 
his  reputation  for  courage  and  firmness,  being  as  well  founded 
as  it  was  for  veracity,  he  never  received  either  insult  or  injury. 
His  companions,  afterwards,  when  the  anger  of  the  moment  had 
passed  away,  and  their  passions  had  time  to  cool,  felt  doubly 
grateful  to  him  for  preventing  them  from  whipping  each  other; 
and  their  love  for  him  was  continually  on  the  increase.  He  in 
herited  from  his  father  great  bodily  strength  and  activity,  and  not 
only  while  at  school,  but  long  afterwards,  did  he  delight  in  the 
sports  which  strengthen  the  frame  and  swell  the  muscles.  It  was 


24  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

a  favourite  amusement,  during  the  hours  of  relaxation  at  Mr,  Wil- 
liams's  school,  for  the  boys  to  divide  themselves  into  two  parties, 
which  they  dignified  with  the  name  of  armies ;  and  calling  the 
one  French,  and  the  other  American ;  with  cornstalks  for  muskets, 
and  calabashes  for  drums,  they  would  form  into  line,  and  march 
and  counter-march,  and  file  oflf,  or  fight  their  ha/mless  battles  with 
great  interest.  George  always  led  the  American  army,  and  there 
was  no  sport  in  which  he  so  much  delighted  as  training  his  young 
soldiers. 

But  there  was  something  besides  playing  to  be  done  at  Mr. 
Williams's  school.  That  gentleman  was  an  excellent  teacher,  and 
by  him  George  was  instructed  in  mathematics  and  in  surveying. 
While  studying  these  important  branches  of  education,  he  kept  a 
blank  book  in  which  he  entered  the  examples  in  a  fair  round  hand. 
These  manuscripts  have  been  preserved  from  the  time  of  his 
thirteenth  year.  They  occupy  several  quires  of  paper,  and  are 
remarkable  for  the  care  with  which  they  were  kept,  the  neatness 
of  the  handwriting,  the  clearness  and  beauty  of  the  diagrams, 
and  the  precise  method  in  which  tables  and  columns  of  figures 
were  copied.*  They  also  contain  what  he  calls  Forms  of  Writing, 
such  as  notes  of  hand,  bills  of  exchange,  bonds,  indentures,  deeds, 
mortgages,  wills,  bills  of  sale,  land  warrants,  leases,  and  receipts, 
written  out  with  care.  Then  follow  selections  in  rhyme,  distin 
guished  for  their  religious  character.  But  the  most  interesting 
and  significant  part  of  these  books  wras  that  which  he  called 
Rules  of  Behaviour  in  Company  and  Conversation.  This  contained 
maxims  or  rules  of  conduct  for  the  government  of  young  persons, 
drawn  from  sources  which  are  not  known,  and  arranged  with  much 
care.  We  present  the  reader  with  a  specimen  of  these  rules,  that 
it  may  be  seen  upon  what  principles  certain  parts  of  the  character 
of  Washington  were  formed. 

"1.  Every  action  in  company  ought  to  be  with  some  sign  of 
respect  to  those  present. 

"2.  Be  no  flatterer. 

"3.  Let  your  countenance  be  pleasant;  but  in  serious  matters, 
somewhat  grave. 

"4.  Show  not  yourself  glad  at  the  misfortune  of  another,  though 
he  were  your  enemy. 

"5.  When  you  meet  with  one  of  greater  quality  than  yourself, 
stop  and  retire ;  especially,  if  it  be  at  a  door,  or  any  strait  place, 
to  give  way  for  him  to  pass. 

*  Sparks. 


WASHINGTON'S    MAXIMS.  25 

«6.  They  that  are  in  dignity  or  in  office,  have  in  all  places 
precedency;  but  whilst  they  are  young  they  ought  to  respect 
those  that  are  their  equals  in  birth,  or  other  qualities,  though  they 
have  no  public  charge. 

"  7.  It  is  good  manners  to  prefer  them  to  whom  we  speak  be 
fore  ourselves ;  especially,  if  they  be  above  us,  with  whom  in  no 
sort  we  ought  to  begin. 

"8.  Let  your  discourse  with  men  of  business  be  short  and 
comprehensive. 

"  9.  In  writing,  or  speaking,  give  to  every  person  his  due  title, 
according  to  his  degree  and  the  custom  of  the  place. 

"  10.  Strive  not  with  your  superiors  in  argument,  but  always 
submit  your  judgment  to  others  with  modesty. 

"11.  Undertake  not  to  teach  your  equal  in  the  art  himself  pro 
fesses;  it  savours  to  arrogancy. 

«12.  When  a  man  does  all  he  can,  though  it  succeeds  not 
well,  blame  not  him  that  did  it. 

"13.  Being  to  advise,  or  reprehend  any  one,  consider  whether 
it  ought  to  be  done  in  public  or  in  private,  presently  or  at  some 
other  time,  in  what  terms  to  do  it;  and  in  reproving,  show  no 
signs  of  choler,  but  do  it  with  sweetness  and  mildness. 

«14.  Take  all  admonition  thankfully,  in  what  time  or  place 
soever  given ;  but  afterwards,  not  being  culpable,  take  a  time  or 
place  convenient  to  let  him  know  it  that  gave  them. 

"  15.  Mock  not,  nor  jest  at  any  thing  of  importance ;  break 
no  jests  that  are  sharp-biting,  and  if  you  deliver  any  thing  that  is 
witty  and  pleasant,  abstain  from  laughing  thereat  yourself. 

"16.  Wherein  you  reprove  another  be  unblamable  yourself,  for 
example  is  more  prevalent  than  precepts. 

"17.  Use  no  reproachful  language  against  any  one;  neither 
curse  nor  revile. 

"18.  Be  not  hasty  to  believe  flying  reports  to  the  disparage 
ment  of  any. 

"  19.  In  your  apparel  be  modest,  and  endeavour  to  accommodate 
nature  rather  than  to  procure  admiration ;  keep  to  the  fashion  of 
your  equals,  such  as  are  civil  and  orderly  with  respect  to  times 
and  places. 

"20.  Play  not  the  peacock,  looking  everywhere  about  you  to 
see  if  you  be  well  decked,  if  your  shoes  fit  well,  if  your  stockings 
sit  neatly,  and  clothes  handsomely. 

"21.  Associate  yourself  with  men  of  good  quality,  if  you 
4  C 


26  LIFE  OF   WASHINGTON. 

esteem  your  own  reputation ;  for  it  is  better  to  be  alone  than  in 
bad  company. 

"22.  Let  your  conversation  be  without  malice  or  envy,  for  it 
is  a  sign  of  a  tractable  and  commendable  nature;  and  in  all 
causes  of  passion,  admit  reason  to  govern. 

"23.  Utter  not  base  and  frivolous  things  among  grave  and 
learned  men;  nor  very  difficult  questions  or  subjects  among  the 
ignorant:  nor  things  hard  to  be  believed. 

"24.  Be  not  immodest  in  urging  your  friend  to  discover  a 
secret. 

"25.  Break  not  a  jest  where  none  takes  pleasure  in  mirth; 
laugh  not  aloud,  nor  at  all  without  occasion.  Deride  no  man's 
misfortune,  though  there  seem  to  be  some  cause. 

"26.  Speak  not  injurious  words  neither  in  jest  nor  in  earnest; 
scoff  at  none,  though  they  give  occasion. 

"27.  Be  not  forward,  but  friendly  and  courteous;  the  first  to 
salute,  hear,  and  answer;  and  be  not  pensive  when  it  is  time  to 
converse. 

"28.  Detract  not  from  others;  neither  be  excessive  in  com 
mending. 

"29.  Go  not  thither,  where  you  know  not  whether  you  shall 
be  welcome  or  not.  Give  not  advice  without  being  asked,  and 
when  desired,  do  it  briefly. 

"30.  Reprehend  not  the  imperfections  of  others;  for  that  be 
longs  to  parents,  masters,  and  superiors. 

"31.  Gaze  not  on  the  marks  or  blemishes  of  others,  and  ask 
not  how  they  came.  What  you  may  speak  in  secret  to  your 
friend,  deliver  not  before  others. 

"32.  When  another  speaks,  be  attentive  yourself,  and  disturb 
not  the  audience.  If  any  hesitates  in  his  words  help  him  not, 
nor  prompt  him  without  being  desired;  interrupt  him  not,  nor 
answer  him  till  his  speech  be  ended. 

"33.  Make  no  comparisons;  and  if  any  of  the  company  be 
commended  for  any  brave  act  of  virtue,  commend  not  another  for 
'he  same. 

"34.  Be  not  apt  to  relate  news  if  you  know  not  the  truth 
thereof.  In  discoursing  of  things  you  have  heard,  name  not  your 
author  always.  A  secret  discover  not. 

"  35.  Undertake  not  what  you  cannot  perform,  but  be  careful 
to  keep  your  promise. 

"36.  Speak  not  evil  of  the  absent,  for  it  is  unjust. 

"37.  Set  not  yourself  at  the  upper  end  of  the  table,  but  if  it 


KALE'S    CONTEMPLATIONS.  27 

be  your  due,  or  that  the  master  of  the  house  will  have  it  so,  con 
tend  not  lest  you  should  trouble  the  company. 

"38.  When  you  speak  of  God,  or  his  attributes,  let  it  be 
seriously  in  reverence.  Honour  and  obey  your  natural  parents 
although  they  be  poor. 

"39.  Let  your  recreations  be  manful,  not  sinful. 

"40.  Labour  to  keep  alive  in  your  breast  that  little  spark  of 
celestial  fire,  called  conscience." 

These  rules  of  conduct  claim  the  reader's  special  attention,  be 
cause  we  are  able  to  trace  in  the  subsequent  life  of  Washington 
their  influence  on  his  character  and  conduct.  Not  less  worthy  of 
notice  are  certain  extracts  which  we  shall  take  the  liberty  of  making 
from  Sir  Matthew  Hale's  "Contemplations,"  to  which  we  have 
already  referred  as  forming  a  subject  of  Washington's  early  study, 
and  as  exerting  a  direct  influence  in  the  formation  of  his  principles 
of  action.  His  well-known  habits  of  private  devotion,  as  well  as  his 
frequent  public  acts  of  reverence  to  the  Deity,  we  may  suppose  to 
have  been  influenced  in  some  measure  by  his  imprinting  on  his 
mind  such  passages  of  this  excellent  work  as  the  following: 

"But  on  the  other  side,  an  humble  man  leans  not  to  his  own 
understanding;  he  is  sensible  of  the  deficiency  of  his  own  power 
and  wisdom,  and  trusts  not  in  it ;  he  is  also  sensible  of  the  all- 
sufficient  power,  wisdom,  and  goodness  of  almighty  God,  and 
commits  himself  to  him  for  counsel,  guidance,  direction,  and 
strength.  It  is  natural  for  any  man  or  thing  that  is  sensible  of  his 
own  deficiency,  to  seek  out  after  that  which  may  be  a  support 
and  strength  to  him,  and  as  Almighty  God  is  essentially  good 
and  perfect,  so  he  is  (if  I  may  use  the  expression)  most  naturally 
communicative  of  it  to  any  that  seek  unto  him  for  it  in  humility 
and  sincerity.  The  air  does  not  more  naturally  yield  to  our 
attraction  in  respiration,  or  to  insinuate  itself  into  those  spaces 
that  are  receptive  of  it,  than  the  Divine  assistance,  guidance,  and 
beneficence  does,  to  the  desires,  and  exigencies,  and  wants,  of  an 
humble  soul,  sensible  of  its  own  emptiness  and  deficiency,  and  im 
ploring  the  direction,  guidance,  and  blessing,  of  the  most  wise  and 
bountiful  God.  I  can  call  my  own  experience  to  witness,  that  even 
in  the  external  actions,  occurrences,  and  incidences  of  my  whole 
life,  I  was  never  disappointed  of  the  best  guidance  and  direction, 
when  in  humility  and  sense  of  my  own  deficiency,  and  diffidence 
of  my  ability  to  direct  myself,  or  to  grapple  with  the  difficulties 
of  my  life,  I  have  with  humility  and  sincerity  implored  the  secret 
direction  and  guidance  of  the  Divine  Wisdom  and  Providence, 


28  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

And  I  dare  therein  appeal  to  the  vigilant  and  strict  observation  of 
any  man's  experience,  whether  he  has  not  found  the  same  expe 
rience  in  relation  to  himself,  and  his  own  actions  and  successes ; 
and  whether  those  counsels  and  purposes  which  have  been  taken 
up  after  an  humble  invocation  of  the  Divine  direction,  have  not 
been  always  most  successful  in  the  end.  • 

"Consider  what  it  is  thou  pridest  thyself  in,  and  examine  well 
the  nature  of  the  things  themselves,  how  little  and  inconsiderable 
they  are ;  at  least  how  uncertain  and  unstable  they  are. 

"Thou  hast  fine  gay  clothes,  and  this  makes  children  and 
young  men  and  women  proud,  even  to  admiration.  But  thou  art 
not  half  so  fine  and  gay  as  the  peacock,  ostrich  or  parrot ;  nor  is 
thy  finery  so  much  thine  own  as  their's  is,  but  it  is  borrowed  from 
the  silk-worm,  the  golden  mines,  the  industry  of  the  embroiderer, 
weaver,  tailor,  and  is  no  part  of  thyself.  And  hast  thou  the 
patience  to  suffer  thyself  to  be  abused  into  this  childish,  pitiful, 
foolish  pride? 

"Thou  hast,  it  may  be,  wealth,  stores  of  money,  but  how  much 
of  it  is  of  use  to  thee  ?  That  which  thou  spendest  is  gone ;  that 
which  thou  keepest  is  as  insignificant  as  so  much  dirt  or  clay ; 
only  thy  care  about  it  makes  thy  life  the  more  uneasy. 

"Thou  hast  honour,  esteem;  thou  art  deceived,  thou  hast  it 
not,  he  hath  it  that  gives  it  thee,  and  which  he  may  detain  from 

thee  at  pleasure But  suppose  it  were  as  fixed  and  stable 

a  reputation  and  honour  as  a  rock  of  marble  or  adamant,  and 
that  it  were  the  best  kind  of  honour  imaginable,  namely,  the 
result  of  thy  virtue  and  merit;  yet  still  it  is  but  a  shadow,  a  reflec 
tion  of  that  virtue  or  worth,  which,  if  thou  art  proud  of,  thou  de- 
gradest  into  vanity  and  ostentation ;  and  canst  thou  think  it  rea 
sonable  to  be  proud  of  the  shadow,  where  thou  oughtest  not  to  be 
proud  of  that  worth  that  causeth  it. 

"Again;  thou  hast  power,  art  in  great  place  and  authority; 
but  thou  art  mistaken  in  this ;  the  power  thou  hast  is  not  inherent 
in  thyself.  One  of  the  meanest  of  those  whom  it  may  be  thou 
oppressest,  is  inherently  as  powerful  as  thee,  and  could,  it  may 
be,  overmatch  thee  in  strength,  wit,  or  policy ;  but  the  power  thou 
hast  is,  (next  to  the  dispensation  of  Divine  Providence,)  from 
those  men,  that  either  by  their  promises,  faith,  or  voluntary  assist 
ance,  have  invested  thee  with  this  power.  This  power  is  nothing 
inherent  in  thee,  but  it  depends  upon  the  fidelity  or  assistance 
of  others,  which,  if  they,  either  by  perfidiousness  to  thee,  or  resist 
ance  against  thee,  or  withdrawing  their  assistance  from  thee, 


EARLY    LIFE.  29 

shall  call  again  home  to  themselves,  thou  art  like  Samson,  having 
lost  his  locks.  <  Thy  strength  will  go  from  thee,  and  thou  wilt  be 
come  weak,  and  be  like  another  man.' ' 

Washington's  punctuality  and  his  rigid  economy  of  time,  as 
well  as  his  habitual  sense  of  religion,  seem  but  the  natural  conse- 
qtiences  of  his  attention  to  such  passages  as  the  following: — 

"How  time  is  to  be  redeemed.  The  particular  methods  of  hus 
banding  time  under  both  the  former  relations,  viz.,  in  relation  to 
opportunity,  and  in  relation  to  our  time  in  life,  shall  be  promis 
cuously  set  down.  Now  the  actions  of  our  lives  may  be  distin 
guished  into  several  kinds,  and  in  relation  to  those  several  actions, 
will  the  employments  of  our  time  be  diversified.  1.  There  are 
actions  natural;  such  as  eating,  drinking,  sleep,  motion,  rest. 
2.  Actions  civil;  as  provision  for  families,  bearing  of  public 
offices  in  time  of  peace  or  war  ;  moderate  recreations  and  diver- 
sions>  employments  in  civil  vocations,  as  agriculture,  mechanical 
trades,  liberal  professions.  3.  Actions  moral.  Whether  relating  to 
ourselves,  as  sobriety,  temperance,  moderation;  or  relating  to 
others,  as  acts  of  justice,  charity,  compassion,  liberality ;  4.  or 
lastly,  Actions  religious;  relating  to  Almighty  God,  as  invocation, 
thanksgiving,  inquiring  into  his  works,  will,  obedience  to  his  law 
and  commands,  observing  the  solemn  seasons  of  his  worship 
and  service,  which  must  go  through  and  give  a  tincture  to  all 
the  rest,  a  habit  of  fear  of  him,  love  of  him,  humility  and  integ 
rity  of  heart  and  soul  before  him ;  and,  in  sum,  a  habit  of  religion 
towards  God  in  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  which  is  the  one  thing 

necessary  and  overweighs  all  the  rest. 

******* 

"Much  time  might  be  saved  and  redeemed,  in  retrenching  the 
unnecessary  waste  thereof  in  our  ordinary  sleep,  attiring  and 
dressing  ourselves,  and  the  length  of  our  meals,  as  breakfasts, 
dinners,  suppers  ;  which,  especially  in  this  latter  age,  and  among 
people  of  the  better  sort,  are  protracted  to  an  immoderate  and 
excessive  length. 

"Beware  of  too  much  recreation.  Some  bodily  exercise  is  ne 
cessary,  for  sedentary  men  especially ;  but  let  it  not  be  too  fre 
quent  or  too  long.  Gaming,  taverns,  and  plays,  as  they  are  per 
nicious,  and  corrupt  youth ;  so,  if  they  had  no  other  fault,  yet 
they  are  are  justly  to  be  declined  in  respect  to  their  excessive  ex 
pense  of  time,  and  habituating  men  to  idleness  and  vain  thoughts, 
and  disturbing  passions,  when  they  are  past,  as  well  as  while  they 
are  used.  Let  no  recreation  of  any  long  continuance  be  used  in 

c2 


30  LIFE  OF  WASHINGTON. 

the  morning,  for  they  hazard  the  loss  or  discomposure  of  the  whole 
day  after. 

«  Be  obstinately  constant  to  your  devotion  at  certain  set  times, 
and  be  sure  to  spend  the  Lord's  day  entirely  in  those  religious 
duties  proper  for  it ;  and  let  nothing  but  an  inevitable  necessity 
divert  you  from  it.  . 

"Be  industrious  and  faithful  to  your  calling.  The  merciful 
God  has  not  only  indulged  us  with  a  far  greater  portion  of  time 
for  our  ordinary  occasions  than  he  has  reserved  for  himself,  but 
also  enjoins  and  requires  our  industry  and  diligence  in  it.  And 
remember,  that  you  observe  that  industry  and  diligence,  not  only 
as  the  means  of  acquiring  a  competency  for  yourself  and  your 
family,  but  also  as  an  act  of  obedience  to  his  command  and  ordi 
nance,  by  means  whereof,  you  make  it  not  only  an  act  of  civil 
conversation,  but  of  obedience  to  Almighty  God  ;  and  so  it  be 
comes  in  a  manner  spiritualized  into  an  act  of  religion. 

"  Whatever  you  do,  be  very  careful  to  retain  in  your  heart  a 
habit  of  religion,  that  may  be  always  about  you,  and  keep  your 
heart  and  life  always  as  in  His  presence,  and  tending  towards  him. 
This  will  be  continually  with  you,  and  put  itself  into  acts,  even 
though  you  are  not  in  a  solemn  posture  of  religious  worship,  and 
will  lend  you  multitudes  of  religious  applications  to  God,  upon 
all  occasions  and  interventions,  which  will  not  at  all  hinder  you 
in  any  measure,  in  your  secular  concerns,  but  better  and  further 
you.  It  will  make  you  faithful  in  your  calling,  through  reflection 
of  the  presence  and  command  of  Him  you  fear  and  love.  It 
will  make  you  thankful  for  all  successes  and  supplies  ;  temperate 
and  sober  in  all  your  natural  actions  ;  just  and  faithful  in  all  your 
dealings  ;  patient  and  contented  in  all  your  disappointments  and 
crosses  ;  and  actually  consider  and  intend  His  honour  in  all  you 
do  ;  and  will  give  a  tincture  of  religion  arid  devotion  upon  all 
your  secular  employments,  and  turn  those  very  actions  which 
are  materially  civil  or  natural,  into  the  very  true  and  formal  nature 
of  religion,  and  make  your  whole  life  to  be  an  unintermitted  life 
of  religion  and  duty  to  God.  For  this  habit  of  piety  in  your 
soul  will  not  only  not  lie  sleeping  and  inactive,  but  in  almost  every 
hour  of  the  day  will  put  forth  actual  exertings  of  itself  in  appli 
cations  of  short  occasional  prayers,  thanksgivings,  dependence, 
resort  unto  that  God  that  is  always  near  you,  and  lodgeth  in  a 
manner  in  your  heart,  by  his  fear,  and  love,  and  habitual  religion 
towards  him.  And  by  this  means  you  do  effectually,  and  in  the 
best  manner,  redeem  your  time." 


EARLY    LIFE.  31 

The  part  of  the  volume,  quoted  by  Mr.  McGuire,  in  his  Reli 
gious  Opinions  and  Character  of  Washington,  as  having  exerted 
the  most  perceptible  influence  on  Washington's  mind  and  cha 
racter,  is  that  in  which  the  author  supposes  all  mankind  to  be 
standing  before  the  bar  of  God,  who  submits  to  each  a  charge, 
and  receives  from  the  "  good  steward"  an  account  of  his  life. 

The  following  passages  form  a  portion  of  the  charge. 

"1.  I  have  given  unto  you  all  your  senses,  and  principally 
those  two  great  senses  of  discipline,  your  sight  and  your  hearing. 

"Item.  I  have  given  unto  you  all,  understanding  and  reason, 
to  be  a  guide  of  your  actions,  and  to  some  of  you  more  eminent 
degrees  thereof. 

"Item.  I  have  given  you  all,  memory,  a  treasury  of  things 
past,  heard,  and  observed. 

"Item.  I  have  given  you  a  conscience  to  direct  you,  and  to 
check  you  in  your  miscarriages,  and  to  encourage  you  in  well 
doing  ;  and  I  have  furnished  that  conscience  of  yours  with  light, 
and  principles  of  truth  and  practice,  conformable  to  my  will. 

"Item.  I  have  given  you  the  advantage  of  speech,  whereby  to 
communicate  your  minds  to  one  another,  and  to  instruct  and  ad 
vantage  one  another  by  the  help  thereof. 

"Item.  I  have  given  over  to  you  the  rule  and  dominion  over 
my  creatures,  allowing  you  the  use  of  them  for  your  food,  raiment, 
and  other  conveniences. 

"Item.  Besides  these  common  talents,  I  have  enriched  some  of 
you  with  special  and  eminent  talents  above  others.  I  have  given 
such  great  learning  and  knowledge  in  the  works  of  nature,  art, 
and  sciences  ;  great  prudence  and  wisdom  in  the  conduct  of 
affairs;  elocution,  excellent  education.  I  have  given  you  a  firm 
and  healthy  constitution,  strength,  beauty,  and  comeliness ;  also 
great  affluence  of  wealth  and  riches,  eminence  of  place,  and 
power  and  honour;  great  reputation  and  esteem  in  the  world; 
great  success  in  enterprises  and  undertakings,  public  and  private. 
Christian  and  liberal  education  you  have  had ;  counsel  and  advice 
of  faithful  and  judicious  friends;  good  laws  in  the  place  and 
country  where  you  live;  the  written  word  of  God  acquainting 
you  with  my  will,  and  the  way  to  eternal  life ;  the  word  preached 
by  able  and  powerful  ministers  thereof;  the  sacraments  both  for 
your  initiation  and  confirmation :"  &c.  &c. 

The  good  steward  is  represented  as  giving  his  answer  to  this 
charge.  The  following  passages  form  a  part  of  what  he  is  repre 
sented  as  saying: 


32  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

"As  to  all  the  blessings  and  talents  wherewith  thou  hast  in 
trusted  me,  I  have  looked  up  to  thee  with  a  thankful  heart,  as  the 
only  Author  and  Giver  of  them.  I  have  looked  on  myself  as  un 
worthy  of  them.  I  have  looked  upon  them  as  committed  to  my 
trust  and  stewardship,  to  manage  them  for  the  ends  that  they 
were  given,  the  honour  of  my  Lord  and  Master. «  I  have  therefore 
been  watchful  and  sober  in  the  use  and  exercise  of  them,  lest  I 
should  be  unfaithful  in  them.  If  I  have  at  any  time,  through 
weakness  or  inadvertence,  or  temptation,  misemployed  any  of 
them,  I  have  been  restless  till  I  have  in  some  measure  rectified 
my  miscarriage,  by  repentance  and  amendment. 

"As  touching  my  conscience  and  the  light  thou  hast  given  me 
in  it :  It  has  been  my  care  to  improve  that  natural  light,  and  to 
furnish  it  with  the  best  principles  I  could.  Before  I  had  the 
knowledge  of  thy  word,  I  got  as  much  furniture  as  I  could  from 
the  writings  of  the  best  moralists,  and  the  examples  of  the  best 
men  ;  after  I  had  the  light  of  thy  word,  I  furnished  it  writh  those 
most  pure  and  unerring  principles  that  I  found  in  it.  I  have 
been  very  jealous  either  of  wounding,  or  grieving,  or  discourag 
ing,  or  deadening  my  conscience.  I  have  therefore  chosen  rather 
to  forbear  that  which  seemed  but  indifferent,  but  there  might  be 
somewhat  in  it  that  might  be  unlawful ;  and  would  rather  gratify 
my  conscience  with  being  too  scrupulous,  than  displease  or  dis 
quiet  it,  by  being  too  venturous.  I  have  still  chosen  rather  to 
forbear  what  might  probably  be  lawful,  than  to  do  that  which 
might  be  possibly  unlawful ;  because  I  could  not  err  in  the  for 
mer,  I  might  in  the  latter.  If  things  were  disputable  whether  they 
might  be  done,  I  rather  chose  to  forbear  because  the  lawfulness 
of  my  forbearance  was  unquestionable. 

"Concerning  my  speech,  I  have  always  been  careful  that  I 
offend  not  with  my  tongue ;  my  words  have  been  few,  unless  ne 
cessity  or  thy  honour  required  more  speech  than  ordinary;  my 
words  have  been  true,  representing  things  as  they  were ;  and  sin 
cere,  bearing  conformity  to  my  heart  and  mind I  have 

esteemed  it  the  most  natural  and  excellent  use  of  my  tongue  to 
set  forth  thy  glory,  goodness,  power,  wisdom  and  truth;  to  in 
struct  others,  as  I  had  opportunity,  in  the  knowledge  of  thee,  in 
their  duty  to  thee,  to  themselves  and  others;  to  reprove  vice  and 
sin,  to  encourage  virtue  and  good  living,  to  convince  of  errors, 
to  maintain  the  truth,  to  call  upon  thy  name,  and  by  vocal 
prayers  to  sanctify  my  tongue,  and  to  fix  my  thoughts  to  the  duty 


EARLY    LIFE.  33 

about  which  I  was :  to  persuade  to  peace  and  charity  and  good 
works. 

"Touching  thy  creatures,  and  the  use  of  them,  and  the  domi 
nion,  over  them,  I  have  esteemed  them  thine  in  propriety ;  thou 
hast  committed  unto  me  the  use,  and  a  subordinate  dominion 
over  them ;  yet  I  ever  esteemed  myself  accountable  to  thee  for 
them,  and  therefore  I  have  received  them  with  thankfulness  unto 
thee,  the  great  Lord  both  of  them  and  me.  When  the  earth 
yielded  me  a  good  crop  of  corn,  or  other  fruits;  when  flocks 
increased ;  when  my  honest  labours  bought  me  in  a  plentiful  or  con 
venient  supply,  I  looked  up  to  thee  as  the  giver,  to  thy  provi 
dence  and  blessing  as  the  source  of  all  my  increase.  I  did  not 
sacrifice  to  my  own  net,  or  industry,  or  prudence,  but  I  received 
all  as  the  gracious  and  bountiful  returns  of  thy  liberal  hand ;  I 
looked  upon  every  grain  of  corn  that  I  sowed  as  buried  and 
lost,  unless  thy  power  quickened  and  revived  it ;  I  esteemed  my 
own  hand  and  industry  but  impotent,  unless  thou  hadst  blessed  ; 
for  it  is  thy  blessing  that  maketh  rich,  and  it  is  thou  that  givest 
power  to  get  wealth. 

"I  esteemed  it  my  duty  to  make  a  return  of  this  my  acknowledg 
ment,  by  giving  the  tribute  of  my  increase  in  the  maintenance 
of  thy  ministers,  and  the  relief  of  the  poor ;  and  I  esteemed  the 
practice  enjoined  to  thy  ancient  people  of  giving  the  tenth  of 
their  increase,  not  only  a  sufficient  warrant,  but  instruction  to  me, 
under  the  gospel,  to  do  the  like 

"Concerning  human  prudence,  and  understanding  in  affairs, 
and  dexterity  in  the  management  of  them,  I  have  always  been 
careful  to  mingle  justice  and  honesty  writh  my  prudence ;  and 
have  always  esteemed  prudence,  actuated  by  injustice  and  falsity, 
the  arrantest  and  most  devilish  practice  in  the  world,  because  it 
prostitutes  thy  gift  to  the  service  of  hell,  and  mingles  a  beam 
of  thy  Divine  excellence  with  an  extract  of  the  devil's  furnish 
ing,  making  a  man  so  much  the  worse  by  how  much  he  is  wiser 
than  others.  I  always  thought  that  wisdom,  which  in  a  trades 
man  and  in  a  politician  was  mingled  with  deceit,  falsity,  and 
injustice,  deserved  the  same  name,  only  the  latter  is  so  much  the 
worse,  because  it  was  of  the  more  public  and  general  concern 
ment;  yet  because  I  have  often  observed  great  employments, 
especially  public  affairs,  are  sometimes  under  great  temptations 
of  mingling  too  much  craft  with  prudence,  and  then  to  miscall  it 
policy,  I  have,  as  much  as  may  be,  avoided  such  temptations,  and 
if  I  have  met  with  them,  I  have  resolutely  rejected  them. 
5 


34  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

« I  have  always  observed,  that  honesty  and  plain  dealings  in 
transactions,  as  well  public  as  private,  is  the  best  and  soundest 
prudence  and  policy,  and  commonly  at  the  long-run  overmatches 
craft  and  subtlety ;  for  the  deceived  and  deceiver  are  thine,  and 
thou  art  privy  to  the  subtlety  of  one,  and  the  simplicity  of  the 
other ;  and  as  the  great  observer  and  ruler  of  «aen  dost  dispense 
success  and  disappointments  accordingly. 

"As  human  prudence  is  abused  if  mingled  with  falsity  and 
deceit,  though  the  end  be  ever  so  good,  so  it  is  much  more  de 
based,  if  directed  to  a  bad  end ;  to  the  dishonour  of  thy  name, 
the  oppression  of  thy  people,  the  corrupting  of  thy  worship  or 
truth,  or  to  execute  any  injustice  towards  any  person.  It  hath 
been  my  care  as  not  to  err  in  the  manner,  so  neither  in  the  end, 
of  the  exercising  of  thy  Providence.  I  have  ever  esteemed  my 
prudence  then  best  employed,  when  it  was  exercised  in  the  pre 
servation  and  support  of  thy  truth,  in  the  upholding  of  thy  faith 
ful  ministers,  in  countermining,  discovering,  and  disappointing 
the  designs  of  evil  and  treacherous  men,  in  delivering  the  op 
pressed,  in  righting  the  injured,  in  preventing  of  wars  and  dis 
cords,  in  preserving  the  public  peace  and  tranquillity  of  the 
people  where  I  live ;  and  in  all  those  offices  incumbent  upon  me 
by  thy  providence  under  every  relation. 

"When  my  end  was  most  unquestionably  good,  I  ever  then  took 
most  heed  that  the  means  were  suitable  and  justifiable.  Because 
the  better  the  end  was,  the  more  easily  are  we  cozened  into  the 
use  of  ill  means  to  effect  it.  We  are  too  apt  to  dispense  with 
ourselves  in  the  practice  of  what  is  amiss,  in  order  to  the  accom 
plishing  of  an  end  that  is  good ;  we  are  apt,  while  wTith  great 
intenseness  of  mind  we  gaze  upon  the  end,  not  to  take  care  what 
course  we  take  so  we  attain  it;  and  we  are  apt  to  think  that  God 
will  dispense  with,  or  at  least  overlook,  the  miscarriages  in  our 
attempts,  if  the  end  be  good.  Because  many  times,  if  not  most 
times,  thy  name  and  honour  do  more  suffer  by  attempting  a  good 
end  by  bad  means,  than  by  attempting  both  a  bad  end  and  by  bad 
means.  For  bad  ends  are  suitable  to  bad  means ;  they  are  alike ; 
and  it  doth  not  immediately  as  such  concern  thy  honour.  But 
every  thing  that  is  good  hath  somewhat  of  thee  in  it ;  thy  name, 
and  thy  nature,  and  thy  honour  is  written  upon  it ;  and  the  blemish 
that  is  cast  upon  it,  is,  in  some  measure,  cast  upon  thee ;  and  the 
evil,  and  scandal,  and  infamy,  that  is  in  the  means,  is  cast  upon 
the  end,  and  doth  disparage  and  blemish  it,  and  consequently  it 
dishonours  thee.  To  rob  for  burnt  offerings,  and  to  lie  for  God, 


EARLY    LIFE.  35 

is  a  greater  disservice  to  thy  majesty,  than  to  rob  for  rapine  or  to 
lie  for  advantage. 

"Whensoever  my  prudence  was  successful,  in  the  attainment 
of  a  good  end,  I  ever  gave  thy  name  the  glory  and  that  in  sin 
cerity.  I  have  known  some  men,  (and  if  a  man  will  observe  his 
own  heart,  he  will  find  it  there  also,  unless  it  be  strictly  denied,) 
that  will  give  God  the  glory  of  the  success  of  a  good  enterprise, 
but  yet  with  a  kind  of  secret  reservation  of  somewhat  of  praise 
for  themselves,  their  prudence,  conduct,  and  wisdom ;  and  will 
be  glad  to  hear  of  it,  and  secretly  angry  and  discontented  if  they 
miss  it;  and  many  times  give  God  the  glory,  with  a  kind  of 
ostentation  and  vanity  in  doing  so.  But  I  have  given  thee  the 
glory  of  it  because  of  my  very  judgment,  that  it  is  due,  and  due 
only  to  thee.  I  do  know  that  that  prudence  that  I  have  comes 
from  thee  ;  and  I  do  know  that  it  is  thy  providential  ordering  of 
occurrences  that  makes  prudential  deliberations  successful ;  and 
more  is  due  unto  thy  ordering,  disposing,  fitting,  timing,  directing 
of  all  in  seeming  casualties,  than  there  is  to  that  human  counsel 
by  which  it  is  moved  or  seems  to  be  moved ;  the  least  whereof, 
if  not  marshalled  by  thy  hand,  would  have  shattered  and  broken 
the  counsel  into  a  thousand  pieces.  Thou  givest  the  advice 
by  thy  wisdom,  and  dost  second  it  by  thy  providence;  thou 
dealest  by  us,  as  we  do  by  our  children,  when  we  set  them  to 
lift  up  a  heavy  weight,  and  we  lift  with  them ;  and  we  again  are 
too  like  those  children  that  think  we  moved  the  weight,  when  we 
moved  not  a  grain  of  it. 

"In  reference  to  my  health,  I  always  avoided  these  two  ex 
tremes  :  I  never  made  it  my  idol,  I  declined  not  the  due  employ 
ment  of  my  body  in  the  works  of  charity  or  necessity,  or  my 
ordinary  calling,  out  of  a  vain  fear  of  injuring  my  health;  for  I 
reckoned  my  health  given  me  in  order  to  these  employments. 
And  as  he  is  over  careful,  that  will  not  put  on  his  clothes,  for  fear 
of  wearing  them  out,  or  use  his  axe,  for  fear  of  hurting  it ;  so  he 
gives  but  an  ill  account  of  a  healthy  body,  that  dares  not  employ 
it  in  a  suitable  occupation,  for  fear  of  hurting  his  health.  Nor 
was  I  vainly  prodigal  of  it,  but  careful  in  a  due  manner  to  pre 
serve  it.  I  would  decline  places  of  infection,  if  I  had  no  special 
duties  that  brought  me  to  them,  also  unnecessary  journeys,  expos 
ing  myself  to  unnecessary  dangers,  especially  intemperance  in 
eating  and  drinking. 

"  Touching  my  eminence  of  place  or  power  in  this  world,  this 
is  my  account.  I  never  sought  or  desired  it,  and  that  for  these 


36  LIFE   OF    WASHINGTON. 

reasons.  First,  because  I  easily  saw  that  it  was  rather  a  burden 
than  a  privilege.  It  made  my  charge  and  my  account  the  greater, 
my  contentment  and  my  rest  the  less.  I  found  enough  in  it  to  make 
me  decline  it  in  respect  of  myself,  but  not  any  thing  that  could 
make  me  seek  or  desire  it.  That  external  glory  and  splendour 
that  attended  it,  I  esteemed  as  vain  and  frivolous  in  itself,  a  bait 
to  allure  vain  and  inconsiderate  persons,  not  valuable  enough 
to  invite  a  considerate  judgment  to  desire  to  undertake  it.  I 
esteemed  it  as  the  gilding  that  covers  a  bitter  pill,  and  I  looked 
through  the  dress  and  outside,  and  easily  saw  that  it  covered  a 
state  obnoxious  to  danger,  solicitude,  care,  trouble,  envy,  dis 
content,  disquietude,  temptation,  and  vexation.  I  esteemed  it  a 
condition,  which,  if  there  were  any  distempers  abroad,  they  would 
infallibly  be  hunting  and  pushing  after  it ;  and  if  it  found  any 
corruptions  within,  either  of  pride,  vain-glory,  insolence,  vindic- 
tiveness,  or  the  like,  it  would  be  sure  to  draw  them  out  and  set 
them  to  work.  And  if  they  prevailed,  it  made  my  power  and 
greatness,  not  only  my  burden  but  my  sin ;  if  they  prevailed  not, 
yet  it  required  a  most  watchful,  assiduous,  and  severely  vigilant 
labour  and  industry  to  suppress  them. 

"  When  I  undertook  any  place  of  power  or  eminence,  first,  I 
looked  to  my  call  thereunto,  to  be  such  as  I  might  discern  to  be 
thy  call,  not  my  own  ambition.  Second,  that  the  place  were  such 
as  might  be  answered  by  suitable  abilities,  in  some  measure,  to 
perform.  Third,  that  my  end  in  it  might  not  be  the  satisfaction 
of  any  pride,  ambition,  or  vanity  in  myself,  but  to  serve  thy 
providence  and  my  generation  faithfully.  In  all  which  my  under 
taking  was  not  an  act  of  my  choice,  but  of  my  duty. 

"In  the  holding  or  exercising  these  places,  I  kept  my  heart 
humble  ;  I  valued  not  myself  one  rush  the  more  for  it.  First, 
because  I  easily  found  that  that  base  affection  of  pride,  which 
commonly  is  the  fly  that  haunts  such  employments,  would  render 
me  dishonourable  to  thy  majesty  and  disserviceable  in  the  em 
ployment.  Second,  because  I  easily  saw  great  places  wrere  slip 
pery  places,  the  mark  of  envy.  It  was,  therefore,  always  my 
care  so  to  behave  myself  in  them,  as  I  might  be  in  a  capacity  to 
leave  them,  and  so  to  leave  them,  that  when  I  had  left  them  I 
might  have  no  scars  and  blemishes  stick  upon  me.  I  carried, 
therefore,  the  same  evenness  of  temper  in  holding  them,  as  might 
become  me  if  I  were  without  them.  Third,  I  found  enough  in 
great  employments,  to  make  me  sensible  of  the  danger,  trouble1, 


EARLY    LIFE.  37 

and  cares  of  them,  enough  to   make  me  humble,  but  not  enough 
to  make  me  proud  and  haughty. 

« I  never  made  use  of  my  power  or  greatness  to  serve  my  own 
turns,  either  to  heap  up  riches,  or  to  oppress  my  neighbour,  or  to 
revenge  injuries,  or  to  uphold  injustice.  For,  though  others 
thought  me  great,  I  knew  myself  to  be  still  the  same,  and  in  all 
things,  besides  the  due  execution  of  my  place,  my  deportment 
was  just  the  same  as  if  I  had  been  no  such  a  man ;  for  first,  I 
knew  that  I  wras  but  thy  steward  and  minister,  and  placed  there 
to  serve  thee,  and  those  ends  which  thou  proposedst  in  my  prefer 
ment,  and  not  serve  myself,  much  less  my  passions  or  corruptions. 
And  further,  I  very  well  and  practically  knew,  that  place,  and 
honour,  and  preferment,  are  things  extrinsical,  and  form  no  part 
of  man.  His  value  and  estimate  before,  and  under,  and  after  his 
greatness,  is  still  the  same  in  itself,  as  the  counter  that  now  stands 
for  a  penny,  anon  for  sixpence,  and  then  for  twelve-pence,  is  still 
the  same  counter,  though  its  place  and  extrinsical  denomination 
be  changed. 

"  I  improved  the  opportunity  of  my  place,  eminence,  and  great 
ness,  to  serve  thee  and  my  country  in  it,  with  all  vigilance,  dili 
gence,  and  fidelity.  I  protected,  countenanced,  and  encouraged 
thy  worship,  name,  day,  and  people.  I  did  faithfully  execute 
justice  according  to  that  station  I  had.  I  rescued  the  oppressed 
from  the  cruelty,  malice,  and  insolence  of  their  oppressors.  I 
cleared  the  innocent  from  unjust  calumnies  and  reproaches.  I 
was  instrumental  to  place  those  in  offices,  places,  and  employ 
ments  of  trust  and  consequence,  that  were  honest  and  faithful. 
I  removed  those  that  were  dishonest,  irreligious,  false,  or  un 
just,  &c. 

«  Touching  my  reputation  and  credit,  I  never  affected  the  repu 
tation  of  being  rich,  great,  crafty,  or  politic  ;  but  I  esteemed  much 
a  deserved  reputation,  of  justice,  honesty,  integrity,  virtue,  and 
piety. 

"  I  never  thought  that  reputation  was  the  thing  primarily  to  be 
looked  after  in  the  exercise  of  virtue,  for  that  were  to  affect  the 
substance  for  the  sake  of  the  shadow,  which  had  been  a  kind  of 
levity  and  weakness  of  mind  ;  but  I  looked  at  virtue,  and  the 
worth  of  it,  as  that  which  was  the  first  desirable,  and  reputation, 
as  a  fair  and  useful  accession  to  it. 

"  The  reputation  of  justice  and  honesty,  I  was  always  careful 
to  keep  untainted,  upon  these  grounds.  First,  because  a  blemish 
in  my  reputation  would  be  dishonourable  to  thee.  Second, 

D 


38  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

it  would  be  an  abuse  of  a  talent  which  thou  hadst  committed 
to  me.  Third,  it  would  be  a  weakening  of  an  instrument  which 
thou  hadst  put  into  my  hands,  upon  the  strength  whereof  much 
good  might  be  done  by  me. 

"  Though  I  have  loved  my  reputation,  and  have  been  vigilant 
not  to  lose,  or  impair  it,  by  my  own  default  or  neglect,  yet  I  have 
looked  upon  it  as  a  bitter  thing,  a  thing  that  the  devil  aims  to  hit 
in  a  special  manner,  a  thing  that  is  much  in  the  power  of  a  false 
report,  a  mistake,  a  misapprehension,  to  wound  and  hurt;  and 
notwithstanding  all  my  care,  I  am  at  the  mercy  of  others,  without 
God's  wonderful,  overruling  providence.  And  as  my  reputation 
is  the  esteem  that  others  have  of  me,  so  that  esteem  may  be 
blemished  without  my  default.  I  have,  therefore,  always  taken 
this  care,  not  to  set  my  heart  upon  my  reputation.  I  will  use  all 
fidelity  and  honesty,  and  take  care  it  shall  not  be  lost  by  any 
default  of  mine ;  and  if,  notwithstanding  all  this,  my  reputation 
be  soiled  by  evil,  or  envious  men,  or  angels,  I  will  patiently 
bear  it,  and  content  myself  with  the  serenity  of  my  own  con 
science. 

"  When  thy  honour,  or  the  good  of  my  country,  was  concerned, 
I  then  thought  it  was  a  seasonable  time  to  lay  out  my  reputation 
for  the  advantage  of  either,  and  to  act  with  it,  and  by  it,  and  upon 
it,  to  the  highest,  in  the  use  of  all  lawful  means.  And  upon  such 
an  occasion,  the  counsel  of  Mordecai  to  Esther  was  my  encou 
ragement — 'Who  knoweth  whether  God  hath  not  given  thee  this 
reputation  and  esteem  for  such  a  time  as  this  ?'  " 

In  these  striking  selections  from  this  excellent  production,  our 
readers  will  doubtless  see  reason  for  the  belief,  that  no  small  influ 
ence  was  contributed  thereby  toward  the  formation  of  Washington's 
character.  Here  we  might  stop  in  the  assurance  that  such  a  per 
suasion  would  be  general.  But  we  cannot  forbear  another  quo 
tation,  because  of  the  singular  coincidence  of  its  sentiments  with 
those  which  are  known  to  have  distinguished  the  Father  of  his 
country.  We  cite  the  discourse  in  which  the  author  treats  "  Of 
Wisdom  and  the  Fear  of  God."  His  language  is: — 

"  Sincerity,  uprightness,  integrity,  and  honesty,  are  certainly 
true  and  real  wisdom.  Let  any  man  observe  it  where  he  will, 
an  hypocrite,  or  dissembler,  or  a  double-hearted  man,  though  he 
may  shuffle  it  out  for  awhile,  yet  at  the  long  run  he  is  discovered, 
and  disappointed,  and  betrays  very  much  folly  at  the  latter  end  ; 
when  a  plain,  sincere,  honest  man,  holds  it  out  to  the  very  last ; 
so  that  the  proverb  is  most  true,  that  <  Honesty  is  the  best  Policy.' 


EARLY    LIFE.  39 

Now  the  great  privilege  of  the  fear  of  God  is,  that  it  makes  the 
heart  sincere  and  upright,  and  even  that  will  certainly  make  the 
words  and  actions  so.  For  he  is  under  the  sense  of  the  inspec 
tion  and  animadversion  of  that  God  who  searches  the  heart ;  and 
therefore,  he  dares  not  lie,  nor  dissemble,  nor  flatter,  nor  preva 
ricate,  because  he  knows  the  pure,  all-seeing,  righteous  God,  that 
loves  truth  and  integrity,  and  hates  lying  and  dissimulation,  be 
holds,  and  sees,  and  observes  him,  and  knows  his  thoughts,  words 
and  actions 

"  Another  great  cause  of  folly  in  the  world  is,  inadvertence, 
inconsideration,  precipitancy,  and  over-hastiness  in  speeches  or 
actions.  If  men  had  but  the  patience,  many  times,  to  pause  but 
so  long  in  actions  and  speeches  of  moment  as  might  serve  to 
repeat  but  the  Creed  or  Lord's  Prayer,  many  follies  in  the  world 
would  be  avoided  that  do  very  much  mischief,  both  to  the  parties 
themselves  and  others.  And  therefore,  inadvertence  and  precipi' 
tancy  in  things  of  great  moment,  and  that  require  much  delibe 
ration,  must  needs  be  a  very  great  folly,  because  the  consequence 
of  miscarriage  in  them  is  of  greater  moment.  Now  the  fear  of 
God,  being  actually  present  upon  the  soul,  and  exerting  itself,  is 
the  greatest  motive  and  obligation  in  the  world  to  consideration 
and  attention,  touching  things  to  be  done  or  said 

"  It  mightily  advanceth  and  improveth  the  worth  and  excellency 
of  most  human  actions  in  the  world,  and  makes  them  a  nobler 
kind  of  a  thing,  than  otherwise,  without  it,  they  would  be.  Take 
a  man  that  is  employed  as  a  statesman  or  politician,  though  he 
have  much  wisdom  and  prudence,  it  commonly  degenerates  into 
craft,  and  cunning,  and  pitiful  shuffling,  without  the  fear  of  God  ; 
but  mingle  the  fear  of  Almighty  God  with  that  kind  of  wisdom, 
it  renders  it  noble,  and  generous,  and  staid,  and  honest,  and 
stable.  Again,  take  a  man  that  is  much  acquainted  with  the 
subtler  kind  of  learning,  as  philosophy  for  instance,  without  the 
fear  of  God  upon  his  heart,  it  will  carry  him  over  to  pride,  arro 
gance,  self-conceit,  curiosity,  presumption;  but  mingle  it  with 
the  fear  of  God,  it  will  ennoble  that  knowledge,  carry  it  up  to  the 
honour  and  glory  of  that  God,  who  is  the  author  of  nature,  to  the 
admiration  of  his  power,  wisdom,  and  goodness ;  it  will  keep 
him  humble,  modest,  sober,  and  yet  rather  with  an  advance  than 
detriment  to  his  knowledge." 

We  should  not  have  ventured  to  copy  such  long  extracts  from 
Sir  Matthew  Hale's  Contemplations,  even  though  they  may  with 
propriety  be  denominated  Washington's  Manual,  so  far  as  religion 


40  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

and  morals  are  concerned,  had  we  not  been  desirous  to  com 
mend  them  to  the  notice  of  the  reader  as  suitable  for  general  use 
and  observance.  These  principles  of  conduct  are  as  worthy 
the  attention  of  those  occupying  the  humbler  stations  in  life  as 
of  those  who  are  called  to  direct  the  movements  of  armies  and 
preside  over  the  destinies  of  nations.  * 

While  Washington  was  at  school,  he  studied  surveying,  and 
reduced  it  to  practice  in  the  neighbourhood  of  his  residence. 
His  masterly  style  of  composition  was  not  the  result  of  any 
instruction  in  the  Greek  and  Latin  classics,  for  he  never  studied 
them.  It  was  acquired  as  he  advanced  in  life,  by  self-instruc 
tion,  reflection,  practice,  and  intercourse  and  correspondence 
with  men  of  superior  classical  attainments.  Nor  was  it  in  com 
position  alone  that  Washington  was  his  own  instructor.  Never 
did  any  one  better  deserve  to  be  called  a  self-taught  man.  All 
that  may  with  most  propriety  be  denominated  education,  all  that 
forms  the  character  for  great  enterprises,  and  exalted  stations, 
appears  in  his  case  to  have  been  the  result  of  self-directed  study, 
reflection,  and  practice.  And  such  is  the  education  of  all  truly 
great  men.  If  we  run  over  the  list  of  those  who  have  distin 
guished' themselves  signally  on  the  great  theatre  of  human  affairs, 
those  who  have  advanced  science  by  inventions  and  discoveries, 
who  have  conducted  armies  to  conquest,  or  who  have  success 
fully  guided  the  masses  of  their  fellow-men  in  political  affairs, 
we  shall  find  that  they  have  been,  almost  without  exception, 
self-taught  men.  An  art,  a  trade,  or  a  science,  may  be  taught  by 
instructors — learnt  by  imitation  ;  but  the  ability  to  invent,  to 
originate  new  views  and  laws  of  action,  to  combine  parts  into  a 
system,  to  meet  new  arid  unexpected  emergencies,  to  grasp  and 
manage  the  helm  of  power,  is  derived  only  from  self-instruction. 
A  man  may  be  taught  any  thing  but  to  be  great. 

By  this  view  of  the  matter,  it  is  not  intended  to  detract  in  any 
degree  from  the  value  of  instruction  derived  from  others,  and 
least  of  all  in  the  case  of  Washington,  to  whose  early  moral  and 
religious  instruction  we  have  already  referred  as  forming  his  prin 
ciples  of  conduct.  But  this  training  served  merely  as  the  basis 
upon  which  he  himself,  by  study,  reflection,  and  earnest  activity, 
built  up  that  exalted  and  masculine  character  which  has  no  parallel 
among  men, 

Washington  left  school  for  the  last  time  in  the  autumn  preced 
ing  his  sixteenth  birthday  ;  and  from  that  time,  leaving  his  bro 
ther  Augustine,  he  resided  partly  with  his  mother  opposite  to 


EARLY    LIFE. 


41 


Fredericksburg,  and  partly  with  his  brother  Lawrence,  at  Mount 
Vernon.  He  still  spent  much  of  his  time  in  the  study  of  mathe 
matics,  and  in  the  exercise  of  practical  surveying  for  the  pur 
pose  of  becoming  familiar  with  the  use  of  the  instruments  and 
the  application  of  the  principles.  His  leisure  hours  were  spent 
in  athletic  exercises ;  and  he  excelled,  in  an  especial  manner,  in 
running,  wrestling,  jumping,  and  riding.  This  habit  of  vigorous 
exercise  continued  with  him  through  life,  and  gave  such  strength 
and  activity  to  his  body  as  enabled  him  afterwards  to  sustain  all 
those  hardships  which  it  was  his  duty  to  encounter  in  his  coun 
try's  cause. 


42 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


C  A  B  T  H  A  G  E  N  A. 


CHAPTER   II. 

a  Jlurfce£G7. 


N  1739,  war  had  been  declared  by 
Great  Britain  against  Spain,  and 
Admiral  Vernon  was  sent  to  take 
the  command  of  a  small  fleet  in 
the  West  Indies,  with  orders  to 
operate  against  the  Spanish  posses 
sions  in  that  quarter.  In  Novem 
ber,  he  sailed  with  six  men-of-war 
from  Jamaica  and  attacked  the 
fortress  of  Porto  Bello.  The  Spa 
nish  governor  was  compelled  to 
capitulate  ;  and  Vernon,  blowing 
up  the  fortifications,  returned  to  Jamaica.  During  the  next  year, 
with  thirty  sail  of  the  line  and  15,000  sailors,  he  undertook  an  ex 
pedition  against  Carthagena.  The  land  forces  accompanying  this 
expedition  amounted  to  12,000,  and  were  under  the  command  of 
General  Wentworth.  Carthagena  was  besieged  by  this  force,  the 
greatest  that  had  ever  been  seen  in  America,  but  such  was  the 
bravery  and  determination  of  the  Spaniards  that  the  English 
officers  were  compelled  to  abandon  the  siege.  Lawrence  Wash- 


DECLINES    ENTERING    THE    NAVY. 


43 


ington,  George's  eldest 
brother,  served  as  an  offi 
cer  in  this  expedition.  So 
well  had  he  conducted  him 
self  that  he  had  procured 
the  approbation  and  confi 
dence  of  the  two  comman 
ders,  Admiral  Vernon  and 
General  Wentworth.  This 


friendship 


continuing, 


ADMIRA.L     VERN 


correspondence  was  kept 
up  between  them  and  him 
for  many  years  after  the 
conclusion  of  the  war. 
At  George's  desire,  before 
he  left  school,  in  the  year 
1746,  Lawrence  procured 
for  him  a  midshipman's  warrant  in  the  British  navy,  which  was 
then  considered  the  best  road  to  preferment.  George,  though  he 
was  then  only  in  his  fifteenth  year,  prepared  with  pleasure  for  his 
departure  ;  for  the  vessel  in  which  he  was  to  embark  was  lying 
almost  ready  to  sail,  in  the  Potomac,  within  sight  of  Mount  Ver- 
non— so  called  by  Lawrence  in  compliment  to  his  friend,  the 
Admiral. 

In  the  mean  time  the  mother  of  Washington  had  felt  and  ex 
pressed  much  concern  at  the  prospect  of  parting  with  her  son,  and 
his  entering  on  a  career  which  would  effectually  separate  him 
from  the  soil  of  his  native  country.  This  was  not  the  effect  of 
mere  maternal  fondness.  George  was  her  eldest  son,  and  in  her 
widowed  state  he  was  her  natural  stay  and  support.  His  con 
nections  and  prospects  were  such  as  to  render  his  permanent  resi 
dence  on  shore  an  object  of  great  importance  ;  and  although 
the  proposed  scheme  apparently  afforded  the  best  prospect  of 
promotion,  the  result  proved  that  it  would  really  have  marred 
for  ever  his  brilliant  fortunes.  What  arguments  she  used  in  order 
to  convince,  or  what  solicitations  to  persuade  her  son  to  relin 
quish  his  favourite  project,  of  course  cannot  be  known ;  but  it 
will  always  be  considered  one  of  the  wisest  actions  of  his  life  that 
he  yielded  to  her  wishes  and  abandoned  his  hopes  of  fame  and 
fortune  as  a  naval  officer.  Such  self-denial  in  a  boy  of  sixteen 
is  equally  creditable  as  a  proof  of  good  sense,  and  of  filial 
arfection. 


44 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

J! 


WASHINGTON     RELINQUISHING     HIS     PLAN     OF     ENTERING     TUS     NAVY. 

Though  Washington  thus  relinquished  his  station  on  the  deck 
of  a  man-of-war,  he  did  not  the  less  cultivate  that  military  talent 
which  had  been  given  him  for  higher  uses.  Adjutant  Muse,  of 
the  county  of  Westmoreland,  who  had  accompanied  his  brother 
Lawrence  in  the  expedition  against  Carthagena,  taught  him  the 
manual  exercise.  The  same  gentleman  also  lent  him  certain 
treatises  on  the  art  of  war,  by  the  aid  of  which  he  obtained  some 
knowledge  of  the  theory  of  tactics,  and  of  the  movements  and 
evolutions  of  troops.  The  art  of  fencing  he  learnt  from  Monsieur 
Van  Braam,  who  subsequently  acted  as  his  interpreter  in  his  inter 
course  with  the  French  on  the  Ohio. 

Soon  after  leaving  school,  George  went  to  reside  with  his  bro 
ther  Lawrence,  at  Mount  Vernon,  where  he  became  acquainted 
with  Lord  Fairfax,  and  other  members  of  the  Fairfax  family  then 
established  in  Virginia.  Lawrence  Washington  had  married  a 
sister  of  William  Fairfax,  a  distant  rein -ion  of  Lord  Fairfax,  and 
at  that  time  a  member  of  the  Virginia  council.  This  gentleman 
was  at  Mount  Vernon  on  a  visit  to  his  sister  while  George  was 
there,  and  being  very  much  pleased  with  his  young  acquaintance, 
he  invited  him  to  his  residence  at  Belvoir,  a  short  distance  from 


•4 


WASHINGTON  A   SURVEYOR.  47 

Mount  Vernon.  There  he  made  George  acquainted  with-  his  sons 
and  daughters,  and  soon  became  his  friend  and  adviser.  Hearing 
him  one  day  express  a  wish  to  get  employment  as  a  surveyor, 
Mr.  Fairfax  introduced  and  recommended  him  to  his  relative, 
Lord  Fairfax,  the  inheritor  of  a  vast  tract  of  country  lying  between 
the  Potomac  and  Rappahannoc  Rivers,  and  stretching  across  the 
Alleghany  Mountains. 

This  immense  tract  of  land  had  never  been  surveyed  ;  and  the 
important  and  responsible  office  of  surveying  it  was  now  intrusted 
to  Washington,  who  entered  on  his  first  expedition  for  this  pur 
pose  at  the  age  of  sixteen.  He  was  accompanied  by  George 
Fairfax,  a  son  of  William  Fairfax.  (1748.)  The  duty,  as  usual, 
in  a  wild  country,  was  extremely  arduous,  exposing  the  young 
surveyors  to  all  the  inclemencies  of  the  weather,  and  bringing 
them  into  frequent  contact  with  the  Indians.  It  was  performed, 
however,  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  proprietor ;  and  it  un 
doubtedly  led  to  Washington's  subsequent  appointment  as  public 
surveyor,  an  office  which  kept  him  actively  and  laboriously  em 
ployed  for  three  years. 

The  business  of  practical  surveying  undoubtedly  formed  a  very 
important  part  of  Washington's  preparation  for  the  office  of  mili 
tary  commander.  It  not  only  hardened  and  invigorated  his 
already  robust  frame,  but  it  educated  his  eye,  and  accustomed 
him  to  judge  respecting  distances  and  advantages  of  position. 
By  making  him  an  able  civil  engineer,  it  laid  the  foundation  of 
his  future  eminence  in  a  military  capacity.  It  was  more  immedi 
ately  advantageous  to  him  by  procuring  for  him  the  acquaintance 
of  the  principal  landholders  of  the  state,  and  by  making  known  to 
them  his  remarkable  judgment,  good  sense,  and  ability  in  the 
conduct  of  affairs.  The  effect  of  this  last  circumstance  was  seen 
in  his  appointment,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  to  the  office  of  adjutant- 
general  with  the  rank  of  major.  This  gave  him  the  charge  of  a 
district,  with  the  duty  of  exercising  the  militia,  inspecting  their 
arms,  and  superintending  their  discipline. 

Soon  after  entering  upon  the  duties  of  this  office,  Washington's 
fraternal  affection  induced  him  to  accompany  his  brother  Law 
rence  in  a  voyage  to  Barbadoes,  whither  he  had  been  ordered  by 
the  physicians,  in  consequence  of  a  pulmonary  attack  which  threat 
ened  his  life.  The  brothers  were  strongly  attached  to  each  other, 
and  the  office  of  cheering  and  nursing  the  invalid  could  not  have 
been  confided  to  better  hands.  The  voyage,  however,  was  made 
too  late.  The  disease  had  already  made  such  progress  that  the 


48 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


VOYAGS     10     BARBADOS  i'. 


change  of  air  and  scene  was  insufficient  to  effect  a  cure.  After 
remaining  some  time  in  Barbadoes,  Lawrence  determined  to  pro 
ceed  to  Bermuda  after  sending  his  brother  back  to  Virginia  with 
instructions  to  accompany  his  wife,  who  was  to  join  her  husband 
at  Bermuda.  While  in  Barbadoes,  George  had  the  small-pox, 
with  which  he  was  slightly  marked  during  the  rest  of  his  life. 

Finding,  soon  after  his  arrival  at  Bermuda,  that  his  health  was 
not  essentially  benefited,  Lawrence  Washington  returned  to  Vir 
ginia  without  waiting  for  his  relations  to  meet  him  at  that  island  ; 
and  soon  after  his  return  he  sunk  rapidly  to  the  grave.  "  Few 
men,"  says  Mr.  Sparks,  "have  been  more  beloved  for  their  ami 
able  qualities,  or  admired  for  those  higher  traits  of  character 
which  give  dignity  to  virtue,  and  a  charm  to  accomplishments  of 
mind  and  manners." 

In  his  will,  Lawrence  appointed  George  one  of  his  executors, 
and  the  estate  of  Mount  Vernon,  bequeathed  to  his  daughter,  was 
to  pass  to  George  in  case  of  her  demise  without  issue.  The  new 
responsibilities  thus  devolved  upon  him,  together  with  his  public 
duties,  afforded  ample  employment  for  all  his  active  energies. 

The  Northern  military  division  of  Virginia,  which  was  now 
assigned  to  Major  Washington,  included  several  counties,  each 
of  which,  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  adjutant-general,  he 
visited  at  stated  times.  Here  it  was  that  he  first  tried,  and  learned 


AN    ADJUTANT-GENERAL. 


49 


to  place  confidence  in  those  military  manoeuvres  in  which  he  after 
wards  became  so  skilful.  Nor  was  his  vigilance  useless  to  the 
officers  under  his  command,  at  this  early  period.  Animated  and 
encouraged  by  the  example  of  one,  younger  than  most  of  them, 
they  learned  to  love  him,  to  place  unlimited  confidence  in  his 
knowledge  and  abilities,  and  to  render  that  strict  and  active  obe 
dience  to  superiors  in  command,  whatever  may  be  their  age,  which 
is  absolutely  necessary  to  success  in  all  military  enterprises.  It 
was  by  the  courage,  the  perseverance,  and  the  obedience  of  some 
of  these  very  officers,  that  Washington  was,  some  time  afterwards, 
enabled  to  save  the  remnant  of  the  army  of  the  unfortunate  Brad- 
dock. 


50 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


CHAPTER   III. 


@ommenc*m*ni  tf 


¥*arjs' 


HE  course  of  events  being  now  such  as 
to  call  Washington  into  a  more  extended 
field  of  operations,  it  is  thought  neces 
sary  to  trace  the  causes  which  led  to  his 
taking  an  active  part  in  public  affairs. 
Canada,  since  the  year  1608,  when 
the  first  permanent  settlement  was 
made,  had  been  in  the  undisputed 
possession  of  the  French.  Both  the 
French  and  English  claimed  the  lands 
in  the  Western  Continent,  by  the  right 
of  prior  discovery,  and  possession  or  settlement,  without  any 
regard  to  the  right  of  the  native  inhabitants.  The  claims  founded 
on  discovery  and  actual  occupation  had  hitherto  covered  but  a 
small  portion  of  the  continent,  and  the  European  nations,  by  the 
Treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  adjusted,  in  a  superficial  manner,  the 
distribution  of  North  America  between  the  three  dominant  powers, 
England,  France,  and  Spain.  This  agreement  was  very  imperfect, 
however,  inasmuch  as  the  colonies  of  these  three  powers  occupied 
but  a  narrow  band  along  the  Atlantic  coast ;  and  though  their 


THE    SEVEN   YEARS'   WAR.  51 

charters  claimed  the  whole  country  from  sea  to  sea,  yet  as  they 
were  entirely  unacquainted  with  those  vast  regions,  it  was  not 
improbable  that  they  would  soon  be  again  involved  in  new  diffi 
culties  respecting  boundaries. 

In  1673,  a  party  of  French  from  Canada  discovered  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Mississippi  River,  at  the  spot  at  which  it  is  joined 
by  the  Wisconsin ;  and  sailing  down  it  as  far  as  the  Arkansas, 
they  decided  from  its  course  that  it  emptied  into  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  They  then  returned  by  land  to  Canada.  On  this  dis 
covery,  the  French  nation  based  its  right  to  the  great  Mississippi 
Valley.  Having  sailed  down  the  river,  they  claimed  all  the  lands 
watered  by  its  tributaries.  They  afterwards  took  possession  of 
the  country  lying  near  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  about  the  year 
1722,  a  small  colony  was  planted  at  New  Orleans.  In  ten  or 
twelve  years  their  settlements  in  Louisiana  increased  and  began 
to  extend  up  the  Mississippi.  Thus  the  French  possessed  two 
considerable  colonies,  one  of  them  north,  and  the  other  south,  of 
the  English  possessions.  Their  settlers  from  Canada  approaching 
the  Ohio  River,  and  those  of  Louisiana  manifesting  a  disposition  to 
occupy  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  the  project  was  formed  of 
connecting  these  two  colonies  by  means  of  a  chain  of  forts,  run 
ning  along  the  Ohio,  and  down  the  Mississippi.  This  plan  inter 
fered  with  the  chartered  rights  of  the  English,  extending  from  sea 
to  sea,  and  would  have  confined  them  to  the  eastern  side  of  the 
Alleghany  Mountains.  The  Indians,  too,  who  had  hitherto  been 
friendly  to  the  English  settlers  of  Virginia,  becoming  alarmed  for 
their  safety,  began  to  side  with  their  nearer  neighbours,  and  by 
them  they  were  soon  instigated  to  make  depredations  on  their 
former  friends. 

Already  had  the  French,  by  the  erection  of  a  strong  fort  at 
Crown  Point,  secured  the  command  of  Lake  Champlain,  and  a 
connected  chain  of  posts  was  maintained  from  Quebec,  up  the  St. 
Lawrence,  and  along  the  great  lakes  ;  until  at  last  they  approached 
the  Ohio,  and  entered  on  the  territory  which  had  been  actually 
granted,  by  charter,  to  the  colony  of  Virginia.  The  English 
traders  were  warned  not  to  enter  the  country  claimed  by  the 
French  to  trade  with  the  Indians.  A  few,  disregarding  the  warn 
ing,  were  captured  and  carried  as  prisoners  to  Presque  Isle,  on 
Lake  Erie,  where  the  French  were  then  erecting  a  strong  fort. 
This  was  done,  too,  when  the  two  nations  were  at  peace  with 
each  other.  A.  D.  1753. 


52 


LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 


HE  Indians,  instigated  it  is  supposed 
by  French  emissaries,  commenced 
their  savage  warfare.  The  great  val 
ley  of  the  Shenandoah  was  then  but 
thinly  peopled.  The  farmers  who  had 
ventured  so  far  from  the  civilized  world 
seemed  to  be  careless  about  the  society 
of  their  species,  and  took  up  their  posi 
tions  out  of  sight  of  even  the  smoke  from  their  neighbours'  chim 
neys.  These  isolated  families  often  suffered  from  the  incursions 
of  the  savages,  who  spared  neither  age  nor  sex,  but  committed 
their  wanton  cruelty  on  the  persons  of  all  alike,  often  wreaking 
their  fiendish  hatred  on  the  unoffending  and  lifeless  body  after 
the  soul  had  been  released  from  sufferings  too  horrible  to  be 
narrated.  The  near  approach  of  their  old  enemies,  the  French, 
and  the  ascendency  which  they  were  known  to  possess  over  the 
wild  savages  of  the  forest,  naturally  filled  these  desolate  families 
with  fear.  They  called  upon  the  governor  for  aid.  Governor  Din- 
widdie  had  already  despatched  a  messenger  over  the  mountains, 
with  presents  for  the  Indians,  and  instructions  to  ascertain  their 
temper  and  designs,  and,  if  possible,  to  find  out  the  intentions  of 
the  French.  He,  however,  became  alarmed  at  the  tales  told  him 
by  the  Indians,  to  whom  he  delivered  his  presents,  and  returned 
without  effecting  his  object. 

Orders  now  arrived  from  the  British  ministry,  for  the  Governor 
of  Virginia  to  build  two  forts  near  the  Ohio  River,  to  prevent  the 
encroachments  of  the  French,  and  to  hold  the  Indians  in  check. 
But  the  orders  arrived  too  late.  The  French  had  already  takeri 
possession  of  the  territory  bordering  on  the  Ohio. 

Thus  commenced  the  Seven  Years'  War  in  America,  called,  by 
the  provincial  soldiers  who  were  engaged  in  it,  the  Old  French 
War.  It  was  destined  to  develope  the  military  talents  and  ener 
gies  of  Washington,  and  to  transfer  the  possession  of  Canada  and 
the  other  northern  provinces  of  America,  from  France  to  Great 
Britain. 

The  French  having  taken  possession  of  the  country  and  built 
forts  in  different  places  on  the  Ohio,  Governor  Dinwiddie,  in  obe 
dience  to  the  orders  of  the  British  ministry,  determined  to  assert 
the  right  of  his  king,  as  well  as  that  of  the  province  of  Virginia, 
to  the  stations  thus  occupied,  and  if  possible  effect  their  dislodg- 
ment.  For  this  purpose,  he  deemed  it  advisable,  at  first,  to  de- 


THE    SEVEN   YEARS'   WAR.  53 

spatch  an  envoy  to  the  French  commandant,  ordering  him  to  retire 
from  the  territories  of  the  British.  This  service  was  one  of  great 
delicacy,  and  full  of  danger  and  difficulty.  "  The  envoy  would 
be  under  the  necessity  of  passing  through  an  extensive  and  almost 
unexplored  wilderness,  intersected  with  rugged  mountains  and 
considerable  rivers,  and  inhabited  by  fierce  savages,  who  were 
either  hostile  to  the  English  or  of  doubtful  attachment."* 

Such  were  the  difficulties  and  dangers  of  the  service  that  not 
one  of  the  many  aids  and  immediate  attendants  on  the  governor 
offered  to  undertake  it,  and  Dinwiddie  began  to  fear  that  it 
would  be  necessary  to  abandon  the  project. 

•N  this  crisis  Washington,  then  only  twenty-one  years 
of  age,  volunteered  his  services.  This  was  not 
done  at  the  instigation  of  ambition :  the  service  was 
dangerous,  and  no  honour  would  accrue  on  its  suc 
cessful  issue.  He  did  it  not  from  poverty,  nor  from 
the  want  of  employment ;  we  have  seen  him  actively 
and  usefully  engaged,  and  in  possession  of  a  compe 
tent  fortune.  But  at  the  voice  of  his  country  he  cheerfully  re 
signed  the  ease  and  comforts  of  home,  to  enter  on  a  journey  in  the 
depth  of  winter,  through  a  savage  wilderness  which  exposed  him 
to  the  severest  fatigue  and  privation,  and  the  most  imminent  dan 
gers.  The  acceptance  of  the  office,  therefore,  can  only  be  re 
garded  as  an  act  of  devoted  patriotism. 

The  governor,  a  kind-hearted  old  Scotsman,  thankfully  accepted 
the  offer  of  Washington's  services,  saying,  at  the  same  time,  that 
if  he  conducted  himself  to  his  satisfaction  and  that  of  the  council, 
he  would  have  no  cause  to  repent  having  undertaken  the  service. 
On  the  30th  of  October,  he  received  his  commission  and  instruc 
tions  from  the  governor,  together  with  a  letter  to  the  French  com 
mander,  inquiring  into  his  designs  and  the  authority  by  which  he 
had  dared  to  invade  the  dominions  of  the  King  of  England,  and 
ordering  him  forthwitli  to  evacuate  the  territory  of  Virginia.  Be 
sides  delivering  this  message,  his  instructions  required  him  to 
obtain  information  of  the  position,  force,  and  designs  of  the 
French  through  the  aid  of  the  friendly  Indians  on  the  borders. 

With  these  instructions  and  a  passport,  Washington  commenced 
his  journey  on  the  31st  of  October,  1753.  He  was  accompanied 
by  John  Davidson,  as  Indian  interpreter,  and  Jacob  Van  Braam, 
his  old  fencing-master,  as  French  interpreter.  Passing  through 
Fredericksburg,  Alexandria,  and  Winchester,  they  arrived  on  the 

*  Marshall. 
E    2 


54  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

14th  of  November  at  Wills'  Creek,  beyond  which  no  road  ex 
tended,  and  \vhere  it  was  necessary  to  hire  a  guide.  For  this 
purpose,  the  services  of  Mr.  Gist  were  secured.  This  person  was 
eminently  qualified  for  the  post  thus  given  to  him,  for  having 
made  a  settlement  between  the  northwestern  ridge  of  the  Allegha- 
nies  and  the  Monongahela  River,  he  had  often  traversed  the  country 
between  his  settlement  and  the  Ohio,  and  was  well  acquainted  with 
the  habits  of  the  Indians  in  the  neighbourhood  through  which  their 
route  lay.*  Four  other  men  were  here  added  to  the  little  expedi 
tion,  to  act  as  attendants,  and  take  charge  of  the  horses  and  baggage. 
Their  names  were  Currin,  McQuire,  Steward  and  Jenkins,  the  two 
former  being  Indian  traders.  The  number  of  the  party  being  thus 
increased  to  eight,  they  proceeded  on  their  way.  They  now  en 
tered  on  the  great  western  wilderness,  through  which  it  was 
necessary  to  follow  Indian  trails  or  direct  their  course  by  the  com 
pass.  Excessive  rains,  aided  by  the  melting  of  the  snows  with 
which  the  tops  of  the  mountains  were  already  covered,  had  so 
swelled  the  streams  which  crossed  their  course,  as  to  render  their 
journey  one  of  continued  labour  and  difficulty. 

On  the  22d  they  arrived  at  the  settlement  of  Mr.  Frazier,  an 
Indian  trader  on  the  Monongahela  River,  about  ten  miles  from  the 
forks  of  the  Ohio.  The  streams  being  impassable  except  by 
swimming  the  horses,  or  on  rafts,  they  were  obliged  to  borrow  .a 
canoe  from  the  trader,  and  to  send  Currin  and  Steward  down  the 
Monongahela  with  the  baggage,  to  meet  the  rest  of  the  party  at 
the  forks.  Washington,  arriving  at  that  place  before  the  canoe, 
spent  some  time  in  viewing  the  rivers  and  land  in  the  fork,  which 
he  thought  extremely  well  situated  for  a  fort,  as  it  had  the 
absolute  command  of  both  rivers.  He  thus  speaks  of  the  spot 
where  the  French  soon  after  erected  Fort  Du  Quesne,  and  where 
the  great  manufacturing  city  of  Pittsburg  has  since  sprung  up  so 
rapidly.  The  words  are  taken  from  his  journal,  published  by  the 
order  of  the  governor  on  his  return  from  the  expedition.  "The 
land  at  the  point  is  twenty  or  twenty-five  feet  above  the  common 
surface  of  the  water;  and  a  considerable  bottom  of  flat,  well-tim 
bered  land  all  around  it,  very  convenient  for  building.  The 
rivers  are  each  a  quarter  of  a  mile  or  more  across,  and  run  here 
very  nearly  at  right  angles,  Alleghany  bearing  northeast,  and 
Monongahela  south-east.  The  former  of  these  is  very  rapid, 
running  water,  the  other  deep  and  still,  without  any  perceptible 
fall."  The  next  day  he  examined  a  spot  about  two  miles  down 

*  Sparks. 


WASHINGTON'S    EMBASSY.  55 

the  Ohio,  where  the  Ohio  Company  intended  to  erect  a  fort,  and 
he  declared  it  to  be  greatly  inferior,  either  for  defence  or  advan 
tages,  to  the  position  at  the  forks.  He  says,  «  A  fort  at  the  fork 
would  be  equally  well  situated  on  the  Ohio,  and  have  the  entire 
command  of  the  Monongahela,  which  runs  from  the  Virginia  set 
tlement,  and  is  extremely  well  designed  for  water  carriage,  as  it 
is  of  a  deep,  still  nature.  Besides,  a  fort  at  the  fork  might  be 
built  at  much  less  expense  than  at  the  other  place.  Nature  has 
well  contrived  this  lower  place  for  water  defence ;  but  the  hill 
whereon  it  must  stand  being  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  length, 
and  then  descending  gradually  on  the  land  side,  will  render  it 
difficult  and  very  expensive  to  make  a  sufficient  fortification  there. 
The  whole  flat  upon  the  hill  must  be  taken  in,  the  side  next  the 
descent  made  extremely  high,  or  else  (he  hill  itself  cut  away ; 
otherwise,  the  enemy  may  raise  batteries  within  that  distance, 
without  being  exposed  to  a  single  shot  from  the  fort." 

Such  was  Washington's  opinion,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one, 
of  the  advantages  and  capabilities  of  a  position,  the  import 
ance  of  which  soon  became  manifest  to  the  French,  who  there, 
as  we  have  already  remarked,  soon  after  erected  Fort  Du  Quesne. 
The  correctness  of  his  opinion  is  further  demonstrated  by  the 
importance  attached  to  the  fort  in  two  wars,  and  by  the  flou 
rishing  condition  of  the  city  which  now  stands  at  the  forks  of  the 
Ohio.  On  the  25th  day  after  his  departure  from  Williamsburg, 
Washington  reached  Logstown,  where  he  was  instructed  to  convene 
as  many  Indian  chiefs  as  possible,  and  solicit  a  guard  to  the  French 
forts.  He  immediately  called  a  council  of  the  principal  sachems, 
to  be  held  on  the  26th.  Tanacharison,  or  the  Half-King,  the 
principal  chieftain,  being  absent  on  an  embassy  from  the  others 
to  the  French  commandant,  it  was  necessary  to  make  this  short 
delay  in  order  that  time  might  be  allowed  for  his  return.  He 
returned  on  the  afternoon  of  the  25th.  This  chief,  thinkino-  that 

'  O 

the  English  only  desired  to  trade  with  the  Indians  and  not  to  dis 
possess  them  of  their  lands,  favoured  them  in  preference  to  the 
French,  whom  he  saw  building  forts  and  houses,  and  taking  forci 
ble  possession  of  the  country.  This  forcible  entry  of  the  French 
upon  their  territories  was  deprecated  by  several  tribes,  and  the 
Half-King  was  sent  by  them  as  their  deputy  to  remonstrate  with 
the  intruders,  on  the  injustice  of  their  course.  From  this  em 
bassy  he  had  just  returned,  when  a  private  interview  was  soli 
cited  by  Major  Washington.  After  informing  him  of  the  nature 
of  the  business  which  had  brought  the  party  to  his  village,  he  de- 


56 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


TANACHARISON,     OR    THE     HALF-KING. 


sired  the  chief  to  relate  some  of  the  particulars  of  his  journey  to 
the  French  encampment,  and  of  his  reception  there,  and  to  give 
him  an  account  of  the  ways  and  distances.  He  told  him  that 
"the  nearest  and  levelest  way  was  at  that  season  impassable,  on 
account  of  the  many  large  miry  savannas  through  which  it  passed, 
that  he  would  be  obliged  to  go  by  Venango,  and  could  not  get  to 
the  nearest  fort  in  less  than  five  or  six  nights'  sleep,  good  travel 
ling."*  Tanacharison  said,  that  when  he  visited  the  fort,  he  had 
been  received  in  a  very  stern  manner  by  the  late  commander, 
(who  had  since  died,)  who  asked  him  very  abruptly,  what  lie  had 
come  about,  and  what  was  his  business.  He  said  that  he  had 
answered  in  the  following  words  : 

"  Fathers,  I  am  come  to  tell  you  your  own  speeches ;  what 
your  own  mouths  have  declared.  Fathers,  you  in  former  days 
set  a  silver  basin  before  us,  wherein  there  was  the  leg  of  a  beaver, 
and  desired  all  the  nations  to  come  and  eat  of  it,  to  eat  in  peace 
and  plenty,  and  not  to  be  churlish  to  one  another  ;  and  that  if  any 
person  should  be  found  to  be  a  disturber,  I  here  lay  down  by  the 
edge  of  the  dish  a  rod,  which  you  must  scourge  him  with ;  and 
if  your  father  should  get  foolish  in  my  old  days,  I  desire  you 
may  use  it  upon  me  as  well  as  others. 

"Now,  fathers,  it  is  you  who  are  the  disturbers  in  this  land,  by 
coming  and  building  your  towns ;  and  taking  it  away  unknown 
to  us,  and  by  force. 

*  Washington's  Journal. 


INTERVIEW    WITH    TANAC  H  ARISON.  57 

"Fathers,  we  kindled  a  fire  long  time  ago,  at  a  place  called  Mon 
treal,  where  we  desired  you  to  stay,  and  not  to  come  and  intrude 
upon  our  land.  I  now  desire  you  may  despatch  to  that  place;  for 
be  it  known  to  you,  fathers,  that  this  is  our  land,  and  not  yours. 

"  Fathers,  I  desire  you  may  hear  me  in  civilness  ;  if  not,  we 
must  handle  that  rod  which  was  laid  down  for  the  use  of  the 
,  obstreperous.  If  you  had  come  in  a  peaceable  manner,  like  our 
brothers,  the  English,  we  would  not  have  been  against  your  trad 
ing  with  us  as  they  do  ;  but  to  come,  fathers,  and  build  houses 
upon  our  land,  and  to  take  it  by  force,  is  what  we  cannot  submit  to. 

"Fathers,  both  you  and  the  English  are  white;  we  live  in  a 
country  between ;  therefore,  the  land  belongs  to  neither  one  nor 
the  other.  But  the  Great  Being  above  allowed  it  to  be  a  place 
of  residence  for  us  ;  so,  fathers,  I  desire  you  to  withdraw,  as  I 
have  done  our  brothers  the  English  ;  for  I  will  keep  you  at  arm's 
length.  I  lay  this  down  as  a  trial  for  both,  to  see  which  will  have 
the  greatest  regard  to  it,  and  that  side  we  will  stand  by,  and  make 
equal  sharers  with  us.  Our  brothers  the  English  have  heard  this, 
and  I  come  now  to  tell  it  to  you ;  for  I  am  not  afraid  to  discharge 
you  off  this  land." 

This  patriotic  and  heroic,  though  simple  speech,  was  answered 
by  the  general.  The  following  is  the  substance  of  his  speech  as 
reported  by  the  Half-King  to  Major  Washington,  and  published 
by  him  in  his  interesting  journal  of  this  expedition. 

"Now,  my  child,"  the  general  said,  "  I  have  heard  your  speech; 
you  spoke  first,  but  it  is  my  time  to  speak  now.  Where  is  my 
wampum  that  you  took  away,  with  the  marks  of  towns  in  it? 
This  wampum  I  do  not  know  which  you  have  discharged  me  off 
the  land  with :  but  you  need  not  put  yourself  to  the  trouble  of 
speaking,  for  I  will  not  hear  you.  I  am  not  afraid  of  flies  or 
musquitoes,  for  Indians  are  such  as  those;  I  tell  you  down  that 
river  I  will  go,  and  build  upon  it  according  to  my  command.  If 
the  river  was  blocked  up,  I  have  forces  sufficient  to  burst  it  open, 
and  tread  under  my  feet  all  that  stand  in  opposition,  together  with 
their  alliances  ;  for  my  force  is  as  the  sand  upon  the  sea-shore ; 
therefore  here  is  your  wampum  ;  I  sling  it  at  you.  Child,  you 
talk  foolishly  ;  you  say  this  land  belongs  to  you,  but  there  is  not 
the  black  of  my  nail  yours.  I  saw  that  land  sooner  than  you  did, 
before  the  Shannoahs  and  you  were  at  war.  Lead  was  the  man 
who  went  down  and  took  possession  of  that  river.  It  is  my  land 
and  I  will  have  it,  let  who  will  stand  up  for,  or  say  against  it. 
8 


58  LIFE   OF    WASHINGTON. 

I  will  buy  and  sell  with  the  English!  (mockingly.)  If  people 
will  be  ruled  by  me,  they  may  expect  kindness,  but  not  else." 

The  sachems  met  in  council  on  the  26th  of  November.  Major 
Washington  addressed  them  and  explained  the  objects  of  his  mis 
sion  in  the  following  speech : 

" Brothers,"  said  he,  "I  have  called  you  together  in  council, 
by  order  of  your  brother,  the  governor  of  Virginia,  to  acquaint 
you  that  I  am  sent  with  all  possible  despatch,  to  visit  and  deliver 
a  letter  to  the  French  commandant,  of  very  great  importance  to 
your  brothers  the  English,  and  I  dare  say  to  you  their  friends  and 
allies. 

"I  was  desired,  brothers,  by  your  brother  the  governor,  to  call 
upon  you,  the  sachems  of  nations,  to  inform  you  of  it,  and  ask 
your  advice  and  assistance  to  proceed  the  nearest  and  best  road 
to  the  French.  You  see,  brothers,  I  have  gotten  thus  far  on  my 
journey. 

"His  honour  likewise  desired  me  to  apply  to  you  for  some  of 
your  young  men  to  conduct  and  provide  provisions  for  us  on  our 
way ;  and  be  a  safeguard  against  those  French  Indians  who  have 
taken  up  the  hatchet  against  us.  I  have  spoken  thus  particularly 
to  you,  brothers,  because  his  honour  our  governor  treats  you  as 
good  friends  and  allies,  and  holds  you  in  great  esteem.  To  con 
firm  what  I  have  said,  I  give  you  this  string  of  wampum." 

The  chiefs  received  the  token  of  friendship  and  alliance,  and 
after  a  short  consultation,  deputed  Tanacharison  to  answer  in  the 
name  of  the  whole.  He  said, 

"Now,  my  brother,  in  regard  to  what  my  brother  the  governor 
had  desired  of  me,  I  return  you  this  answer. 

"I  rely  upon  you  as  a  brother  ought  to  do,  as  you  say  we  are 
brothers,  and  one  people.  We  shall  put  heart  in  hand,  and  speak 
to  our  fathers,  the  French,  concerning  the  speech  they  made  to 
me;  and  you  may  depend  that  we  will  endeavour  to  be  your 
guard. 

"Brother,  as  you  have  asked  my  advice,  I  hope  you  will  be 
ruled  by  it,  and  stay  until  I  can  provide  a  company  to  go  with 
you.  The  French  speech  belt  is  not  here;  I  have  it  to  go  for  to 
my  hunting  cabin.  Likewise,  the  people  whom  I  have  ordered 
in  are  not  yet  come,  and  cannot  until  the  third  night  from  this ; 
until  which  time,  brother,  I  must  beg  you  to  stay. 

"I  intend  to  send  the  guard  of  Mingos,  Shannoahs,  and  Dela- 
wares,  that  our  brothers  may  see  the  love  and  loyalty  we  bear 
them." 


WASHINGTON'S    EMBASSY.  59 

The  young  men  did  not  arrive  on  the  third  night,  as  the  Indian 
had  said,  and  the  business  being  pressing,  Major  Washington 
determined  to  set  out  with  what  escort  could  be  immediately  fur 
nished.  Having  made  known  his  intention  to  the  chiefs,  they 
met  at  their  council-house,  and  deputed  Tanacharison  and  three 
others  to  attend  him  to  the  French  fort.  With  this  small  escort 
he  started  on  the  30th  of  November ;  and  on  the  4th  of  December 
reached  Venarigo,  an  old  Indian  town,  at  the  mouth  of  French 
Creek,  on  the  Ohio,  about  sixty  miles  north  of  Logstown.  This 
town  was  occupied  by  the  French  under  Captain  Joncaire,  as  an 
outpost.  The  French  commandant  affected  to  treat  the  young 
officer  with  great  respect,  though  he  used  every  means  in  his 
power  to  detain  him.  The  Indians  were  intoxicated,  and  ren 
dered  incapable  of  attending  to  their  business  or  proceeding  on 
their  journey.  When  that  could  not  be  kept  up,  Joncaire  pre 
tended  that  he  was  intrusted  with  the  management  of  Indian 
affairs  ;  and  Tanacharison  found  it  necessary  to  spend  another  day 
to  hold  a  council  and  have  a  talk  about  the  incursions  of  the 
French  on  his  hunting-grounds.  The  council  ended,  as  Wash 
ington  knew  it  would,  where  it  began,  Joncaire  referring  the 
Indian  to  the  commander  at  the  fort.  Washington,  during  this 
short  delay,  succeeded,  however,  in  gaining  from  Captain  Joncaire 
information  of  the  real  designs  of  the  French  in  building  their 
forts  and  extending  their  settlements  along  the  Ohio.  Professing 
the  greatest  respect  and  friendship  for  Washington,  and  concern 
for  the  success  of  his  journey,  Joncaire,  while  holding  him  back, 
pretended  to  use  all  his  power  and  the  greatest  expedition  to 
accomplish  his  business  with  the  Indians  and  send  him  forward. 
He  told  him  where  he  would  find  the  commandant,  and  gave  him 
as  many  directions  about  the  route  as  if  he  were  going  to  travel 
alone  and  without  guides. 

Washington  succeeded  with  great  difficulty  in  leaving  Venango, 
about  noon  on  the  7th  ;  but  in  consequence  of  excessive  rains, 
followed  by  snow,  and  the  bad  travelling  through  many  mires  and 
swamps,  he  did  not  reach  the  station  of  the  French  commandant 
until  the  llth,  forty-one  days  after  his  departure  from  Williams- 
burg. 

The  commandant,  Legardeur  de  St.  Pierre,  received  him  kindly, 
and  in  two  days  gave  him  an  answer  to  the  governor's  letter. 
During  the  two  days  spent  at  the  fort,  Washington  embraced  every 
opportunity  of  making  himself  acquainted  with  the  defences  of 
the  place.  He  thus  describes  the  fort  in  his  journal :  "It  is  situ- 


60  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

ated  on  the  south  or  west  fork  of  French  Creek,  near  the  water ; 
and  is  almost  surrounded  by  the  Creek,  and  a  small  branch  of  it 
which  forms  a  kind  of  island.  Four  houses  compose  the  sides. 
The  bastions  are  made  of  piles  driven  into  the  ground,  standing 
more  than  twelve  feet  above  it,  and  sharp  at  the  top  ;  with  port 
holes  cut  for  the  cannon,  and  loop-holes  for  tha  small  arms  to  fire 
through.  There  are  eight  six~pound  pieces  mounted  in  each 
bastion,  and  one  piece  of  four  pound  before  the  gate.  In  the 
bastions  are  a  guard  house,  chapel,  doctor's  lodging,  and  the 
commander's  private  store :  round  which  are  laid  platforms  for 
the  cannon  and  men  to  stand  on.  There  are  several  barracks 
without  the  fort,  for  the  soldiers'  dwelling,  covered,  some  with 
bark,  and  some  with  boards,  made  chiefly  of  logs.  There  are 
also  several  other  houses,  such  as  stables,  smith's  shop,  &c.  I 
could  get  no  certain  account  of  the  number  of  men  here ;  but 
according  to  the  best  judgment  I  could  form,  there  are  an  hun 
dred,  exclusive  of  officers,  of  which  there  are  many.  I  also  gave 
orders  to  the  people  who  were  with  me,  to  take  an  exact  account 
of  the  canoes  wrhich  were  hauled  up  to  convey  the  forces  down 
in  the  spring.  This  they  did,  and  told  fifty  of  birch  bark,  and 
an  hundred  and  seventy  of  pine  ;  besides  many  others  which  were 
blocked  out,  in  readiness  for  being  m^de."* 

A  plan  which  Washington  afterwards  made  of  this  fort,  was  for 
warded  to  the  British  government. 

Monsieur  de  St.  Pierre,  having  consulted  with  Captain  Reparti, 
the  next  officer  in  rank,  prepared  an  answer  to  the  letter  of  the 
governor,  couched  in  a  determined  and  firm,  but  respectful  tone  ; 
in  which  he  said  that  as  he  acted  by  instructions  from  the  governor 
of  Canada,  he  could  not  comply  with  the  summons  to  retire  ;  and 
that  it  was  not  his  province  nor  his  duty  to  discuss  treaties,  which 
should  be  referred  to  his  superior. 

The  weather  continuing  very  inclement,  and  the  horses  of  the 
party  becoming  daily  weaker,  Washington  sent  them  with  haste  to 
Venango,  intending,  as  M.  de  St.  Pierre  had  offered  him  a  canoe 
or  two,  to  return  to  that  place  by  water.  The  French  commandant 
again  endeavoured  to  detain  the  Indians,  by  means  of  presents 
and  various  artifices.  But  Washington  succeeded  in  getting  the 
whole  party  embarked,  on  the  16th  of  December. 

The  passage  down  the  creek  was  very  tedious  and  fatiguing. 
"Several  times,"  says  Washington  in  his  journal,  "we  had  like 
to  have  been  staved  against  rocks ;  and  many  times  all  hands 

*  Marshall's  Notes,  p.  8. 


WASHINGTON'S   EXPEDITION   TO   THE    FRENCH   POST. 


WASHINGTON'S    EMBASSY.  63 

were  obliged  to  get  out,  and  remain  in  the  water  half  an  hour  or 
more,  in  getting  over  the  shoals.  At  one  place  the  ice  had  lodged, 
and  made  it  impassable  by  water  ;  we  were  therefore  obliged  to 
carry  our  canoe  across  a  neck  of  land  a  quarter  of  a  mile  over." 
They  reached  Venango  on  the  22d,  which  was  distant  from  the 
fort,  by  the  winding  of  the  stream,  about  one  hundred  and  thirty 
miles,  and  there  found  their  horses.  The  proceedings  of  Wash 
ington  for  the  next  five  or  six  days  will  be  best  related  in  the 
words  of  his  journal.  They  furnish  a  noble  example  of  resolution 
and  hardihood. 

"Our  horses  were  now  so  weak  and  feeble,  and  the  baggage 
so  heavy,  (as  we  were  obliged  to  provide  all  the  necessaries  which 
the  journey  would  require,)  that  we  doubted  much  their  performing 
it.  Therefore,  myself  and  others,  except  the  drivers,  who  were 
obliged  to  ride,  gave  up  our  horses,  for  packs  to  assist  along  with 
the  baggage.  I  put  myself  in  an  Indian  walking- dress,  and  con 
tinued  with  them  three  days,  until  I  found  there  was  no  probability 
of  their  getting  home  in  a  reasonable  time.  The  horses  be 
came  less  able  to  travel  every  day;  the  cold  increased  very 
fast ;  and  the  roads  were  becoming  much  worse  by  a  deep  snow, 
continually  freezing;  therefore,  as  I  was  uneasy  to  get  back  to 
make  report  of  my  proceedings  to  his  honour  the  governor,  I  de 
termined  to  prosecute  my  journey,  the  nearest  way  through  the 
woods  on  foot.  Accordingly,  I  left  Mr.  Van  Braam  in  charge  of 
our  baggage,  with  money  and  directions  to  provide  necessaries 
from  place  to  place  for  themselves  and  horses,  and  to  make  the 
most  convenient  despatch  in  travelling. 

«I  took  my  necessary  papers,  pulled  off  my  clothes,  and  tied 
myself  up  in  a  watch-coat.  Then,  with  gun  in  hand,  and  pack  on 
my  back,  in  which  were  my  papers  and  provisions,  I  set  out  with 
Mr.  Gist,  fitted  in  the  same  manner,  on  Wednesday,  the  26th. 
The  day  following,  just  after  we  had  passed  a  place  called  Mur 
dering  Town,  (where  we  intended  to  quit  the  path  and  steer  across 
the  country  for  Shanapin's  Town,)  we  fell  in  with  a  party  of 
French  Indians  who  had  lain  in  wait  for  us.  One  of  them  fired 
at  Mr.  Gist  or  me,  not  fifteen  steps  off,  but  fortunately  missed. 
We  took  this  fellow  into  custody,  and  kept  him  until  about  nine 
o'clock  at  night,  then  let  him  go,  and  walked  all  the  remaining 
part  of  the  night  without  making  any  stop,  that  we  might  get  the 
start  so  far  as  to  be  out  of  the  reach  of  pursuit  the  next  day,  since 
we  were  well  assured  they  would  follow  our  track  as  soon  as  it 
was  light.  The  next  day  we  continued  travelling  until  quite 


64  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

dark,  and  got  to  the  river  about  two  miles  above  Shanapin's. 
We  expected  to  have  found  the  river  frozen,  but  it  was  not,  only 
about  fifty  yards  from  each  shore.  The  ice,  I  suppose,  had 
broken  up  above,  for  it  was  driving  in  vast  quantities. 

«  There  was  no  way  for  getting  over  but  on  a  raft,  which  we  set 
about  making  with  but  one  poor  hatchet,  and  finished  just  after  sun- 
setting.  This  was  a  whole  day's  work.  We  next  got  it  launched, 
then  went  on  board  and  set  off,  but  before  we  were  halfway  over, 
we  were  jammed  in  the  ice  in  such  a  manner  that  we  expected 
every  moment  our  raft  to  sink,  and  ourselves  to  perish.  I  put  out 
my  setting  pole  to  try  to  stop  the  raft,  that  the  ice  might  pass  by, 
when  the  rapidity  of  the  stream  threw  it  with  so  much  violence 
against  the  pole,  that  it  jerked  me  out  into  ten  feet  water;  but  I 
fortunately  saved  myself  by  catching  hold  of  one  of  the  raft  logs. 
Notwithstanding  all  our  efforts,  we  could  not  get  to  either  shore, 
but  were  obliged,  as  we  were  near  an  island,  to  quit  our  raft  and 
make  to  it. 

"The  cold  was  so  extremely  severe,  that  Mr.  Gist  had  all  his 
fingers  and  some  of  his  toes  frozen,  and  the  water  was  shut  up  so 
hard  that  wre  found  no  difficulty  in  getting  off  the  island  the  next 
morning  on  the  ice,  and  went  to  Mr.  Frazier's.  We  met  here 
with  twenty  warriors  who  were  going  to  the  southward  to  war ; 
but  coming  to  a  place  at  the  head  of  the  Great  Kenawha,  where  they 
found  seven  people  killed  and  scalped,  (all  but  one  woman  with 
very  light  hair,)  they  turned  about  and  ran  back,  for  fear  the  inha 
bitants  should  rise,  and  take  them  as  the  authors  of  the  murders. 
They  report  that  the  bodies  were  lying  about  the  house,  and  some 
of  them  much  torn  and  eaten  by  the  hogs.  By  the  marks  which 
were  left,  they  say  they  were  French  Indians  of  the  Ottowa 
nation,  &c.,  who  did  it.  As  we  intended  to  take  horses  here, 
and  it  required  some  time  to  find  them,  I  went  up  about  three 
miles  to  the  mouth  of  the  Yohogany,  to  visit  Queen  Alliquippa, 
who  had  expressed  great  concern  that  we  had  passed  her  in 
going  to  the  fort.  I  made  her  a  present  of  a  watch-coat  and  a 
bottle  of  rum,  which  latter  was  thought  much  the  best  present  of 
the  two." 

They  left  Mr.  Frazier's  on  Tuesday  the  first  day  of  January, 
1754,  and  the  next  day  arrived  at  Mr.  Gist's,  at  Monongahela. 
On  the  6th  they  arrived  at  Wills's  Creek,  after  a  very  fatiguing 
and  disagreeable  journey.  "From  the  1st  of  December  to  the 
15th,"  says  Washington,  "there  was  but  one  day  on  which  it  did 
not  rain  or  snow  incessantly ;  and  throughout  the  whole  journey, 


WASHINGTON'S    EMBASSY. 


65 


we  met  with  nothing  but  one  continued  series  of  cold,  wet  wea 
ther,  which  occasioned  very  uncomfortable  lodgings." 

On  the  16th,  Major  Washington  arrived  at  Williamsburg,  where 
he  waited  on  the  governor,  delivered  the  letter  of  the  French 
commandant,  and  gave  him  an  account  of  his  proceedings  since 
his  departure.  This  he  did  by  presenting  his  journal  to  the 
governor,  who  expressed  his  entire  approbation  of  every  act  of 
the  young  officer.  The  journal  was  published  by  Governor  Din- 
widdie,  with  Washington's  consent,  and  copied  into  nearly  every 
newspaper  in  the  Colonies  and  Great  Britain.  It  was  the  first 
authentic  information  of  the  designs  of  the  French  against  the 
British  American  Colonies  which  was  ever  made  public. 


OKKNADIER.         TIME     OF    QEORdE     Tl. 


F  2 


Vc..     <•» 


66 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


REMAINS    OF    THE    MAGAZINE    OF    FORT    DUQUS3NR. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


HDuqiiejuse. 

HE  intentions  and  acts  of  the  French  being  made 
known  by  Major  Washington  to  Governor  Dinwid- 
die,  and  by  him  reported  to  the  British  ministers, 
they,  seeing  the  danger  which  menaced  their  Ame 
rican  colonies,  took  immediate  measures  to  repel 
the  French,  and  ordered  their  officers,  in  case  of 
invasion,  to  oppose  force  by  force,  promising  the  aid  of  the  mother 
country  if  it  should  be  necessary.  The  danger  being  equally 
great  to  all  the  colonies,  a  confederacy  for  mutual  defence  was 
recommended,  and  each  one  was  urged  to  contribute  its  propor 
tion  to  the  general  defence,  in  case  of  need. 

The  governor  of  Virginia,  having  no  doubt  that  his  territory 
was  actually  invaded,  now  called  upon  the  governors  of  New  York 
and  North  Carolina  to  aid  him  in  repelling  the  French  invaders. 
He  was  authorized  by  the  Earl  of  Holdernesse  to  call  for  two  inde 
pendent  companies  from  New  York  and  one  from  North  Carolina. 
Conceiving  the  danger  to  be  imminent,  and  of  too  urgent  a 
nature  to  admit  of  the  delay  which  would  be  consequent  upon  a 
call  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  Governor  Dinwiddie  laid  the  sub 
ject  before  his  council,  who  issued  an  order  for  the  immediate 
raising  of  two  companies  of  volunteers,  of  one  hundred  men  each, 
and  their  confidence  in  Major  Washington  was  so  great  that  he 


FORT    DUQUESNE.  67 

was  appointed  to  the  command  of  these  two  companies,  apparently 
without  a  dissenting  voice.* 

The  principal  object  of  the  council  in  these  hasty  proceedings, 
was  to  send  forward  a  force,  to  act  upon  Washington's  recommen 
dation  and  build  a  fort  at  the  junction  of  the  Alleghany  and  Mo- 
nongahela  Rivers.  Accordingly,  while  Major  Washington  was 
stationed  at  Alexandria  to  receive  the  volunteers  and  forward  sup 
plies  and  cannon  for  the  intended  fort,  the  command  of  one  of  the 
companies  was  given  to  Captain  Trent,  who  was  sent  forward  to 
raise  men  among  the  back-settlers  and  traders,  and  proceed  at 
once  to  occupy  the  position  before  the  French  parties  from  the 
south  and  the  north  could  unite,  and  set  up  the  claim  of  prior 
possession. 

The  governor,  in  his  instructions  to  Major  Washington  on  this 
occasion,  ordered  him,  after  having  every  thing  in  readiness,  to 
proceed  with  all  expedition  to  the  fork  of  the  Ohio,  and  there  act 
on  the  defensive ;  but  in  case  any  person  attempted  to  interrupt 
or  obstruct  the  completion  of  the  works,  to  restrain  all  such 
offenders,  or,  in  case  of  resistance,  to  make  prisoners  of,  or  kill 
and  destroy  them.  For  the  rest,  he  was  to  conduct  himself  as  the 
circumstances  of  the  service  should  require,  and  to  act  as  he 
should  think  best  for  the  furtherance  of  his  majesty's  service  and 
the  good  of  Virginia. 

Having  made  these  preliminary  arrangements,  Governor  Din- 
widdie  summoned  the  legislature  to  meet  at  an  early  day,  to  take 
into  consideration  the  critical  state  of  the  colony.  When  they 
assembled,  they  were  found  to  be  in  what  the  governor  called 
"a  republican  way  of  thinking,"  and  far  from  being  as  zealous  as 
himself  in  the  prosecution  of  violent  measures.  It  was  with  the 
greatest  difficulty  that  he  obtained  from  them  an  appropriation  of 
ten  thousand  pounds,  and  even  that  was  voted  "for  the  encourage 
ment  and  protection  of  the  settlers  on  the  Mississippi ;"  the  legis 
lators  wishing,  if  possible,  to  prevent  a  rupture  with  France,  and 
restrain  the  prerogatives  of  the  crown. 

With  the  aid  thus  granted,  the  governor  was  induced  to  increase 
the  military  force  to  six  companies  of  fifty  men  each.  With  a 
modesty,  the  more  rare  because  unaffected,  and  which  in  after 
life  was  never  lost,  Washington  declined  being  a  candidate  for 
the  command  of  this  regiment.  In  a  conversation  with  Colonel 
Corbin,  a  member  of  the  council,  which  had  taken  place  some 
time  previously,  Washington  was  led  to  hope  for  a  commission 

*  Sparks. 


68  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

above  that  of  major ;  but  now,  fearing  that  the  friendship  of  the 
colonel  might  lead  him  to  neglect  the  true  interests  of  his  country, 
the  future  commander-in-chief  of  the  American  armies  thus  ad 
dressed  him.  "  The  command  of  the  whole  forces  is  what  I 
neither  look  for,  expect,  or  desire ;  for  I  must  be  impartial  enough 
to  confess,  it  is  a  charge  too  great  for  my  youth  and  inexperience 
to  be  intrusted  with.  Knowing  this,  I  have  too  sincere  a  love  for 
my  country  to  undertake  that  which  may  tend  to  the  prejudice  of 
it.  But,  if  I  could  entertain  hopes  that  you  thought  me  worthy 
of  the  post  of  lieutenant-colonel,  and  would  favour  me  so  far  as  to 
mention  it  at  the  appointment  of  officers,  I  could  not  but  entertain 
a  true  sense  of  the  kindness. 

"I  flatter  myself  that  under  a  skilful  commander,  or  man  of 
sense,  (which  I  most  sincerely  wish  to  serve  under,)  with  my  own 
application  and  diligent  study  of  my  duty,  I  shall  be  able  to  con 
duct  my  steps  without  censure,  and,  in  time,  render  myself  worthy 
of  the  promotion  that  I  shall  be  favoured  with  now." 

On  this,  as  on  every  other  occasion  of  his  life,  Washington, 
though  well  qualified  for  the  highest  stations,  was  extremely  un 
willing  to  seek  them.  His  request  was  granted.  Colonel  Joshua 
Fry  was  appointed  to  the  chief  command,  and  Washington  was 
made  lieutenant-colonel. 

Both  these  officers  now  made  the  greatest  exertions  to  hasten 
the  necessary  preparations,  and  Governor  Dinwiddie,  in  order  to 
give  alacrity  to  the  recruiting  service,  issued  a  proclamation, 
granting  two  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land,  on  the  Ohio  River, 
to  be  distributed  among  the  officers  and  soldiers  who  should  en 
gage  in  this  expedition.  This  grant  was  approved  by  the  king, 
but  it  was  not  until  some  time  after  the  close  of  the  war,  that  the 
government,  instigated  principally  by  Washington,  caused  the 
land  to  be  surveyed  and  divided. 

While  Lieutenant-Colonel  Washington  was  stationed  at  Alex 
andria,  an  incident  took  place,  which  brought  to  light  the  moral 
strength  of  his  character,  while,  at  the  same  time,  it  unfolded  his 
opinion  with  respect  to  the  practice  of  duelling,  a  practice  suitable 
only  to  the  dark  ages  in  which  it  originated.  This  occurrence 
took  place  during  an  election  for  members  of  the  House  of  Bur 
gesses,  the  opposing  candidates  being  Colonel  George  Fairfax  and 
Mr.  Elzey.  The  warm  friendship  which  existed  between  Wash 
ington  and  Colonel  Fairfax,  led  him  to  speak  in  strong  terms  of 
the  fitness  of  his  friend  for  the  office,  and  in  the  course  of  his 
remarks  he  gave  offence  to  a  man  named  Payne,  who  raised  his 


A    DUEL    PREVENTED.  69 

stick  and  struck  Washington  with  such  force  that  he  knocked  him 
down.  This  naturally  excited  the  indignation  of  such  of  the 
officers  as  were  present,  and  a  tumult  ensued,  which  it  required 
all  the  authority  of  Washington  to  subdue.  When  he  had  in 
some  degree  restored  order,  and  pacified  the  incensed  feelings  of 
his  officers,  he  retired  to  his  lodgings  in  the  public  house.  He 
immediately  wrote  a  note  to  Mr.  Payne,  asking  to  see  him  at  the 
tavern  in  the  morning.  Payne,  expecting  nothing  but  a  challenge, 
repaired  accordingly  to  the  place  appointed,  but  found  Washing 
ton  prepared  to  make  a  full  apology,  and  ask  his  pardon  for  an 
offence  given  in  an  unguarded  moment.  Payne,  admiring  the 
great  courage  of  the  man  who  dared  to  face  the  reproach  of  his 
fellow-man,  instantly  apologized  for  his  cowardly  assault,  and  a 
friendship  was  formed  between  the  two  men,  which  is  said  to  have 
lasted  as  long  as  they  lived.  "How  noble  and  becoming  was 
this  conduct.  It  was  especially  admirable  in  a  youthful  soldier, 
whose  very  profession  exposed  him  to  peculiar  temptations  on 
such  an  occasion.  How  many  would  have  been  driven  by  the 
fear  of  reproach,  and  dread  of  unfavourable  insinuations,  to  incur 
the  hazards  of  a  duel ;  thus  offering  up  at  the  shrine  of  honour 
the  costly  sacrifice  of  human  life.  It  was  not  possible  that  a  man 
like  Washington,  so  endowed  with  moral  courage  and  regard  for 
virtue,  should  be  moved  by  the  fear  of  man  to  such  a  course.  He 
dreaded  not  the  charge  of  cowardice  from  the  mouths  of  fools. 
In  his  own  bosom  he  had  its  ample  refutation.  He  was  conscious 
of  a  fortitude  which  no  dangers  could  shake.  To  display  it  in 
murdering  a  fellow-citizen  was  not  his  ambition.  He  had  before 
him  the  tented  field  and  the  enemies  of  his  country,  and  he  was 
pledged  for  the  hazards  of  a  mortal  conflict  in  her  defence.  Here 
he  was  willing  to  show  his  courage,  and  lay  down  his  life.  He 
would  not  do  so  to  gratify  revenge,  or  win  applause  from  the 
vain."* 

So  impatient  was  Washington  to  be  engaged  in  active  service, 
that  early  in  April,  1754,  he  solicited  and  obtained  permission  to 
advance,  with  two  of  the  companies  which  were  completed,  to  a 
place  called  the  Great  Meadows,  in  the  Alleghany  Mountains, 
where  he  would  be  better  able  to  protect  the  frontier  of  Virginia, 
act  as  a  check  upon  the  incursions  of  hostile  savages,  and  also 
form  a  connecting  link  between  the  principal  recruiting  station  at 
Alexandria,  and  the  advanced  company  under  Captain  Trent. 

He  reached  Will's  Creek  on  the  24th  of  April,  where  he  found 

*  McGuire. 


70  LIF^  or  WASHINGTON. 


Captain  Trent  actively  engaged  in  raising  recruits  for  his  company, 
which  at  the  time  was  thought  to  be  at  the  new  fort,  at  the  junc 
tion  of  the  Alleghany  and  Monongahela  Rivers;  but  great  was  the 
disappointment  of  Washington,  when,  on  the  evening  of  the  same 
day,  Ensign  Ward,  who  had  been  left  in  command  by  Captain 
Trent,  entered  his  camp  and  informed  him,  tkat  on  the  17th  in 
stant  the  fort  had  been  surrendered  to  the  French.  This  work 
had  but  lately  been  commenced,  and  was  not,  when  threatened,  in 
a  fit  condition  for  defence.  It  was  garrisoned  by  but  forty-one  men, 
and  the  captain  and  lieutenant  were  both  absent.  Mr.  Ward  reported 
that  on  the  17th  of  April,  Captain  Contrecoeur  advanced  against 
the  incomplete  works,  with  a  thousand  men  and  eighteen  cannon, 
which  had  been  transported  from  Venango  in  three  hundred  ca 
noes  and  sixty  batteaux.  The  French  captain  planted  his  artil 
lery  against  the  fort,  drew  up  his  men,  and  sent  a  summons  to  the 
English,  demanding  their  surrender  within  an  hour.  Seeing  no 
alternative,  Mr.  Ward  surrendered  the  works,  and  was  permitted 
to  retire  with  his  men,  arms,  and  working  tools. 

HE  capture  of  this  military  post  by  the  French 
was  considered  by  Washington  as  an  actual 
invasion  of  the  frontiers  of  the  colony,  a  com 
mencement  of  the  wTar,  and  he  conceived  it 
to  be  his  duty,  in  compliance  with  his  instruc- 
^_^_^  ^.t^.  tions,  to  march  forward,  and  prepare  to  meet 

the  invaders  wherever  they  might  appear. 
This  opinion  was  confirmed  by  a  council  of  war  ;  and  it  was 
resolved  to  proceed  immediately  to  the  mouth  of  the  Red  Stone 
Creek,  which  enters  the  Monongahela  about  thirty-seven  miles 
above  the  fort  taken  by  the  French,  and  there  to  construct  such 
defences  as  circumstances  would  admit,  and  await  the  reinforce 
ments  which  were  expected  under  Colonel  Fry.  Accordingly,  on 
the  1st  of  May,  the  little  army,  having  been  reinforced  by  the 
company  of  Captain  Stephens,  and  now  numbering  three  com 
panies  of  fifty  men  each,  set  out  from  Will'  s  Creek,  and  advanced 
by  slow  marches  through  the  wilderness,  making  the  roads  as 
they  advanced  fit  for  the  transportation  of  stores  and  cannon.  In 
this  way  they  advanced  until  they  arrived  at  the  Great  Meadows, 
where,  having  certain  information  of  the  advance  and  near  ap 
proach  of  the  French,  Washington  cleared  a  space  of  its  brush 
and  underwood,  and  threw  up  a  slight  intrenchment.  On  the 
morning  of  the  27th  of  May,  Mr.  Gist  arrived  in  camp  and  reported 


SKIRMISH    WITH    THE    FRENCH.  71 

that  he  had  seen  the  trail  of  a  party  which  he  was  sure  were  French 
within  five  miles  of  the  Great  Meadows.  Leaving  a  strong  guard 
at  the  intrenchment,  Washington  advanced  with  forty  men  in 
search  of  the  French.  He  started  about  ten  o'clock  at  night,  and 
arrived  at  the  French  encampment  a  short  time  before  sunrise. 
Tanacharison,  or  the  Half-King,  accompanied  Washington  in  this 
expedition  with  a  few  Indians.  When  they  arrived  in  sight  of 
the  French  camp,  which  was  in  a  retired  position,  Washington 
made  his  dispositions  for  the  attack,  placing  his  men  on  the  right 
and  the  Indians  on  the  left.  Advancing  in  this  manner,  they 
were  soon  discovered  by  the  French,  who  ran  to  their  arms  and 
prepared  for  their  defence.  Washington  then  ordered  his  men  to 
fire,  and  a  skirmish  commenced,  which  continued  for  about  fifteen 
minutes,  when  the  French,  to  the  number  of  twenty-one,  surren 
dered.  The  number  of  their  killed  wras  ten,  including  their  com 
mander  Jumonville.  Washington's  loss  was  one  man  killed  and 
two  or  three  wounded. 

A  loud  clamor  was  raised  on  this  occasion  by  the  French,  who 
declared  that  Jumonville  was  merely  the  bearer  of  a  summons, 
and  that  his  death  was  an  act  of  positive  assassination.  Wash 
ington  did  not  deign  to  reply  to  such  an  absurd  charge ;  but  his 
friends  have  observed,  that  the  great  numbers  of  the  French,  and 
their  cautious  mode  of  approaching,  did  not  at  all  accord  with 
the  representation  of  their  being  political  envoys,  but,  coupled 
with  the  previous  violence,  gave  every  ground  to  believe  that  they 
intended  to  make  good  their  pretensions  by  force. 

Colonel  Fry  had  at  length  raised  three  additional  companies, 
and  was  advancing  to  take  the  command,  but  died  suddenly  on 
the  way.  The  command  then  devolved  upon  Washington,  who 
was  soon  after  reinforced  by  two  companies  of  regulars  under 
Captain  Mackey,  increasing  the  forces  at  the  Great  Meadows  to 
about  four  hundred  men.  Having  enlarged  the  entrenchments  at 
the  Great  Meadows,  and  erected  palisades,  Washington,  leaving 
the  regulars  under  Captain  Mackey  to  defend  the  post,  advanced 
with  the  remainder  of  his  forces  towards  the  fort  at  the  forks,  which 
the  French  had  named  Du  Quesne.  He  had  proceeded  but  thir 
teen  miles,  when  he  was  met  by  some  friendly  Indians,  who  in 
formed  him  that  a  body  of  eight  hundred  French  and  four  hun 
dred  Indians  were  advancing  rapidly  to  meet  him.  In  this  ex 
tremity,  a  council  of  war  was  held,  and  the  great  superiority  of 
the  enemy,  which  had  been  clearly  ascertained,  leaving  no  hope 
of  successful  resistance,  a  retreat  was  determined  upon.  In  two 


72  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

days  they  reached  the  Stockade  fort  at  the  Great  Meadows,  and 
the  soldiers  being  excessively  fatigued  and  the  horses  weak  for 
want  of  food,  it  \vas  found  impossible  to  retreat  farther.  Accord 
ingly,  Washington  had  no  choice  but  to  strengthen  the  defences 
of  the  small  fort,  which  was  now  named,  from  the  circumstances 
of  its  use,  Fort  Necessity,  and  wait  the  arrival  of  reinforcements, 
or  meet  the  enemy  behind  the  enclosure,  imperfect  as  it  was. 

HOSE  of  the  soldiers  who  were  not  completely 
worn  out  by  their  incessant  duties  were  imme 
diately  employed  in  felling  trees  to  increase 
the  height  of  the  breastwork,  and  digging  a 
ditch  around  the  entrenchment.  Their  labours, 
however,  were  far  from  being  completed,  when, 
on  the  morning  of  the  3d  of  July,  a  wounded 
sentinel  ran  into  the  enclosure  and  gave  infor 
mation  of  the  near  approach  of  the  French,  with  their  savage 
allies.  They  appeared  before  Fort  Necessity  about  eleven  o'clock, 
in  number  between  nine  hundred  and  a  thousand,  and  com 
manded  by  Monsieur  de  Villiers. 

Washington  having  stationed  his  small  body  of  men  on  the 
outside  of  the  trenches,  bravely  awaited  the  approach  of  the 
enemy,  who  without  leaving  the  woods  commenced  firing  at  the 
distance  of  six  hundred  yards.  As  they  showed -no  intention  of 
approaching  nearer,  Washington  withdrew  his  men  to  the  enclosure, 
with  orders  to  fire  at  discretion.  The  French  kept  their  position 
behind  the  trees  and  among  the  high  grass,  where  they  maintained 
an  incessant  fire  of  musketry  till  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening. 
The  Americans  fought  with  intrepidity,  firing  wherever  an  enemy 
presented  himself,  or  aiming  at  the  flash  or  smoke  caused  by  the 
discharge  of  their  muskets.  During  the  greater  part  of  the  day 
the  rain  fell  in  torrents,  rendering  the  position  of  the  small  garrison 
very  uncomfortable,  and  making  it  difficult  to  use  their  arms  with 
precision  or  certainty.  In  this  way  the  battle  continued  with  no 
signal  advantage  on  either  side  until  dark,  when  De  Villiers  de 
manded  a  parley.  This  was  at  first  refused  by  Washington,  who 
thought  it  only  a  feint  to  introduce  a  Frenchman  within  the  en 
closure  to  discover  and  report  the  weakness  of  the  garrison ;  but 
it  being  soon  after  renewed,  with  the  request  that  he  would  send 
an  officer  to  the  French  camp,  to  confer  with  the  commanding 
officer,  at  the  same  time  giving  the  strongest  assurances  of  the 
safety  of  the  officer,  Washington  hesitated  no  longer,  but  sent  out 
his  old  interpreter  Captain  Van  Braam,  who  soon  returned  with 


SURRENDER    OF    FORT    NECESSITY.  73 

proposed  articles  of  capitulation.  The  proposals  first  made  were 
rejected  by  Washington,  but  some  changes  having  been  effected 
by  mutual  agreement,  both  parties  signed  the  articles  of  capitula 
tion  about  midnight.* 

By  the  terms  of  capitulation,  the  English  were  allowed  to  march 
out  of  the  fort  the  next  morning  with  all  the  honours  of  war,  with 
drums  beating  and  colours  flying.  They  were  permitted  to  retain 
their  baggage,  and  every  thing  in  their  possession  except  their 
artillery ;  and  were  assured  of  a  safe  retreat  into  the  inhabited 
parts  of  the  country.  As  the  greater  part  of  the  horses  had  been 
killed,  Washington  was  allowed  to  leave  his  baggage,  under  a 
guard,  until  he  could  forward  horses  to  remove  it,  while  he  on  his 
part  agreed  to  restore  the  prisoners  who  had  been  taken  in  the 
skirmish  with  Jumonville. 

About  10  o'clock,  on  the  morning  of  the  4th  of  July,  1754,  Wash 
ington,  at  the  head  of  his  regiment,  and  with  the  honours  of  war, 
evacuated  Fort  Necessity,  and  took  up  the  line  of  march  in  perfect 
order  for  Virginia.  Fifty-eight  of  the  Virginians,  and  two  hun 
dred  of  the  French  had  been  killed  and  wounded  during  the  en 
gagement.  The  safe  conduct  granted  by  De  Villiers  was  violated, 
he  suffering  the  Indians  which  were  attached  to  his  army  to  plun 
der  the  retreating  soldiers. 

The  courage  and  ability  of  Washington,  in  thus  successfully 
resisting  for  a  whole  day  an  army  of  more  than  twice  his  num 
ber,  and  then  obtaining  honourable  terms  of  capitulation,  raised 
him  in  the  estimation  of  the  'whole  country,  and  he  received  the 
cordial  approbation  of  the  governor,  as  soon  as  he  returned  to 
Williamsburg.  When  the  House  of  Burgesses  assembled,  they 
unanimously  voted  the  thanks  of  the  assembly  to  Colonel  Wash 
ington  and  his  officers  and  soldiers,  "  for  their  bravery,  and  the 
gallant  manner  in  which  they  had  conducted  themselves  in  the 
defence  of  the  country."  A  resolution  was  also  passed,  granting 
an  appropriation  of  four  hundred  pistoles  to  be  distributed  among 
the  soldiers  who  had  aided  the  expedition. 

The  assembly  met  in  October,  1754,  and  made  an  appropriation 
of  twenty  thousand  pounds  for  the  public  service,  and  soon  after 
ten  thousand  pounds,  in  specie,  was  forwarded  from  England  for 
the  same  purpose.  The  governor  immediately  enlarged  the  army 
to  ten  companies  of  one  hundred  men  each,  and  reduced  the 
whole  to  the  establishment  of  independent  companies,  thus  making 
captains  the  highest  officers  in  the  Virginia  regiments.  And  even 

*  Sparks. 

10  G 


74  LIFE  OF  WASHINGTON. 

they,  inferior  to  those  of  the  same  grade  holding  the  commission 
of  the  king.  This  new  arrangement,  reducing  Colonel  Washington 
to  the  rank  of  captain,  and  placing  him  under  officers  whom  he 
was  accustomed  to  command,  rendered  his  continuance  in  the 
army  very  disagreeable.* 

Professional  pride  and  dignified  self-respect  were  always  among 
Washington's  most  marked  characteristics.  Notwithstanding  his 
ardent  devotion  to  a  military  life,  he  resolved  at  once  to  resign 
a  station  which  he  believed  was  no  longer  to  be  held  without 
personal  dishonour,  and  his  commission  was  immediately  returned 
into  the  hands  of  the  governor  of  Virginia.  He  retired  to  Mount 
Vernon,  and  there  resided  until  a  new  call  was  made  upon  his 
services,  in  that  name  to  whose  appeal  he  was  never  deaf  or 
wanting.f 

After  the  unsuccessful  expedition  of  Washington,  the  colonists 
began  seriously  to  feel  the  want  of  some  general  system  of  co 
operation  against  their  formidable  enemy.  Those  who  were  most 
immediately  exposed  to  attack,  complained  that  upon  them  ulone 
was  thrown  the  whole  burden  of  repelling  it ;  and  the  English 
government  was  at  length  induced  to  recommend  the  meeting-  of 
a  convention  of  delegates  at  Albany,  to  form  a  league  with  the 
Six  Nations  of  Indians,  and  to  concert  among  themselves  a  plan 
of  united  operations  for  defence,  against  the  common  enemy. 
The  New  England  States,  together  with  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
and  Maryland,  adopted  the  advice,  and  appointed  deputies,  who 
assembled  in  June,  1754,  and  after  a  pacific  treaty  with  the  Six 
Nations  undertook  the  more  important  subject  committed  to  their 
deliberations.  The  delegates  were  unanimous  in  resolving  that  a 
union  of  the  colonies  was  essential  to  the  general  safety,  and  ought 
to  be  accomplished  as  speedily  as  possible.  But  then  the  difficulty 
of  proposing  such  a  plan  of  union  as  would  be  at  the  same  time 
acceptable  to  the  colonies  and  the  British  government,  arose, 
and  put  an  end  to  unanimity.  Among  the  delegates  from  Penn 
sylvania,  appeared  Benjamin  Franklin,  who  even  at  this  early 
date  ranked  as  one  of  the  most  intelligent  and  distinguished  citi 
zens  of  America.  Rising  from  the  humble  station  of  journeyman 
printer,  he  had  already  acquired  a  paramount  influence  in  his 
own  state  of  Pennsylvania,  and  had  been  appointed  postmaster- 
general  of  America,  a  situation  which  he  retained  until  near  the 
commencement  of  the  Revolution,  when  he  was  displaced  by  the 
British  court.  He  proposed  to  his  fellow-members  of  the  con- 

*  Sparks,  p.  56,  57.  j  Ed.  Cyclo. 


THE    ALBANY    CONVENTION. 


75 


vention  the  Albany  plan 
of  union,  which  provided 
for  a  general  government, 
consisting  of  a  president, 
appointed  by  the  crown; 
and  of  a  council  of  repre- 
tatives  from  the  several 
colonies.  To  this  govern 
ment  was  to  be  intrusted 
the  general  direction  of 
war,  peace,  treaties,  and 
transactions  with  the  In 
dians.  They  were  to  have 
the  power  of  imposing 
such  taxes  as  might  be 
deemed  necessary  for 
these  purposes,  and  their 
acts,  if  not  disallowed  by 
the  king  within  three  years,  were  to  acquire  the  force  of  law. 
They  might  also  levy  troops,  the  commanding  officers  being  nomi 
nated  by  the  president,  and  approved  by  the  council.  Civil  offi 
cers  were  to  be  appointed  by  the  counsel  with  the  consent  of  the 
president. 

This  scheme  gained  the  approbation  of  all  the  delegates  except 
those  from  Connecticut,  who  objected  to  the  authority  conferred 
on  the  president,  and  the  power  of  general  taxation  ;  but  when  sub 
mitted  to  the  legislatures  of  the  several  colonies,  they  all,  without 
exception,  considered  the  powers  which  it  proposed  to  grant  to 
the  new  government,  especially  that  of  direct  taxation,  as  far  too 
great  to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  body  over  whom  each  had 
so  little  control.  It  was  accounted  by  them  far  too  favourable  to 
the  royal  prerogative.  Its  reception  was  equally  unfavourable  in 
the  British  cabinet,  who  viewed  it,  not  without  reason,  as  con 
ceding  too  much  power  to  the  representatives  of  the  people,  and 
rendering  America  almost  entirely  independent.  Thus  the  plan, 
recommended  as  it  was  by  such  high  authority,  proved  wholly 
abortive,  though  its  discussion  undoubtedly  had  some  effect  in 
preparing  the  minds  of  the  people  for  a  similar  union,  in  the 
struggle  which  resulted  in  the  independence  of  the  United  States.* 
The  plan  of  thus  uniting  the  colonies  failing,  the  British  min 
istry  determined  to  take  the  conduct  of  the  war  into  their  own 

*  Murray.     Grahame. 


76  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

hands.  First,  making  warm  remonstrances  to  the  court  of  France, 
and  receiving,  in  return,  nothing  but  pacific  promises,  they  resolved 
to  employ  such  a  force  in  America  as  would  compel  the  French 
to  retire  from  their  present  advanced  position,  and,  for  the  future, 
keep  within  their  own  acknowledged  territory. 

41 

CCORDINGLY,  in  January,  1755,  General 
Braddock  was  despatched  from  Ireland,  with 
two  regiments  of  infantry,  to  co-operate  with 
the  Virginian  forces  in  recovering  the  com 
mand  of  the  Ohio.  The  arrival  of  Braddock 
excited  enthusiastic  hopes  among  the  colo 
nists.  The  different  provinces  seemed  to 
forget  their  disputes  with  each  other,  and 
with  Great  Britain,  and  to  enter  into  a  resolution  to  chastise  the 
French,  at  whatever  cost.  At  the  request  of  the  British  com 
mander,  a  meeting  of  the  governors  of  five  of  the  colonies  was 
held  at  Alexandria,  at  which  they  determined  to  undertake  three 
simultaneous  expeditions.  The  first  of  these  was  to  be  conducted 
by  Braddock,  with  the  British  troops  against  Fort  Duquesne  ; 
the  second,  under  the  command  of  Governor  Shirley,  now  ho 
noured  with  the  commission  of  a  general  from  the  king,  was 
intended  for  the  reduction  of  the  French  fort  of  Niagara,  and  was 
composed  of  American  regulars  and  Indians  ;  the  third,  was  an 
expedition  against  Crown  Point,  to  be  undertaken  by  a  regiment 
of  militia. 

General  Braddock  brought  with  him  an  order  of  the  king,  dated 
November  12th,  1754,  the  design  of  which  was  to  regulate  the 
comparative  rank  of  the  regular  and  provincial  officers.  The 
general  and  field-officers  of  the  colonies  were  divested  of  all  rank 
while  serving  with  officers  of  the  same  grade  commissioned  by 
the  king,  or  his  general  commanding  in  America,  and  company 
officers  of  the  same  rank  were  directed  to  give  precedence  to  the 
regulars  without  regard  to  seniority  in  the  date  of  their  com 
missions.  This  order  rendered  the  separation  of  Washington  from 
the  army  wider  than  ever.  His  passion  for  a  military  life,  how 
ever,  was  not  in  the  least  degree  weakened,  and  could  he  have 
held  his  rank,  he  would  have  hastened  to  join  the  army  which 
in  February  ascended  the  Potomac. 

His  wishes  were  soon  favoured ;  for  General  Braddock  con 
sidering  his  military  talents  and  local  knowledge  essential  to  the 


JOINS   GENERAL   BRADDOCK.  77 

success  of  the  expedition,  he  invited  him  to  join  it  with  the  rank 
of  aide-de-camp  in  his  military  family. 

Though  Washington  found  himself,  at  this  juncture,  greatly 
embarrassed  with  his  private  affairs,  having  no  person  in  whom  he 
could  confide  to  intrust  with  the  management  of  them,  he  gladly 
accepted  the  appointment,  with  the  proviso  that  the  general  would 
permit  his  return,  as  soon  as  the  active  part  of  the  campaign 
should  be  over,  if  he  desired  it ;  or  if  there  should  be  a  space  of 
inaction  long  enough  to  permit  him  to  visit  home,  he  might  be 
allowed  to  take  advantage  of  it.* 

Braddock  gladly  acceded  to  the  desire  expressed  by  Wash 
ington,  and  marching  towards  the  interior,  was  joined  by  him  at 
Frederic  Town.  The  army  then  proceeded  in  two  columns  to 
Winchester,  and  thence  to  Will's  Creek,  where  they  arrived  about 
the  middle  of  May. 

As  soon  as  Washington  arrived  in  the  British  camp,  he  was 
appointed  one  of  the  general's  aides-de-camp,  and  this  appoint 
ment  was  proclaimed  to  the  army,  in  general  orders,  on  the  10th 
of  May. 

The  army  was  detained  three  weeks  at  Will's  Creek,  by  the 
failure  of  the  Virginian  contractors  to  furnish  the  wagons  and 
horses,  which,  according  to  the  European  rules  of  warfare,  were 
indispensable.  This  evil  was  finally  obviated  by  the  exertions  of 
Benjamin  Franklin,  who  was  then  postmaster-general  of  America, 
and  had  visited  the  camp  for  the  purpose  of  facilitating  the  trans 
mission  of  the  mail  to  and  from  the  army  and  the  settlements. 
He,  by  great  exertions,  and  by  using  his  influence  with  the 
farmers  of  Pennsylvania,  succeeded  in  procuring  these  supplies. 
In  the  mean  time,  Washington,  conscious  of  the  fact  that  the  suc 
cess  of  the  expedition  would,  in  a  great  degree,  depend  upon  the 
celerity  with  which  they  advanced,  advised  the  general  to  make 
use  of  pack-horses  in  conveying  the  baggage,  and  not  to  wait  for 
the  wagons.  In  support  of  this  advice,  he  stated  that  the  French 
were  known  to  be  weak  on  the  Ohio,  but  they  were  hourly  ex 
pecting  reinforcements,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  continued 
drought  had  so  dried  up  the  streams  that  neither  troops  nor  pro 
visions  could  be  conveyed  by  them  to  Venango,  or  Fort  Du- 
quesne.  This  prudent  advice  was  overruled  by  a  council  of  war, 
by  which  it  was  declared  extremely  rash,  and  contrary  to  esta 
blished  custom. 

While  the  army  was  thus  constrained  to  remain  in  inactivity, 

*  Washington's  Writings,  vol.  ii.  p.  71. 
G   2 


78  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

Washington  received  with  pleasure  an  order  from  General  Brad- 
dock,  to  return  to  Williamsburg,  and  bring  to  the  camp  four  thou 
sand  pounds,  for  the  use  of  the  army.  He  executed  this  commis 
sion  with  promptness  and  effect,  and  arrived  with  his  charge  safe 
in  camp,  on  the  30th  of  May,  though  he  had  been  compelled  to 
wait  a  day  in  Winchester,  in  expectation  of  an^  escort  of  cavalry. 
This  escort  not  arriving  in  time,  he  was  obliged  to  make  use  of  a 
small  guard  of  the  militia. 

One  hundred  and  fifty  wagons,  the  number  promised  by  Frank 
lin,  having  arrived,  the  army,  on  the  10th  of  June,  commenced  the 
march  for  the  Ohio  ;  but  now,  new  obstacles  sprung  up  before 
them.  The  jiature  of  the  road  which  they  were  traversing  made 
it  necessary  to  double  the  teams  of  horses,  which  over  an  ordinary 
road  would  have  been  sufficient  to  drag  the  wagons.  This  caused 
unavoidable  delay,  and  the  general,  becoming  impatient,  began 
to  think,  and  not  without  reason,  that  the  season  for  military 
operations  would  be  consumed  before  he  would  be  able  to  reach 
Fort  Duquesne.  He  called  a  council  of  war  to  consider  what  was  to 
be  done,  but  before  the  meeting  of  the  council,  he  privately  asked 
Washington's  opinion  concerning  the  expedition.  "I  urged  him," 
says  Washington  in  a  letter  to  his  younger  brother,  "in  the 
warmest  terms  I  was  able,  to  push  forward,  if  he  even  did  it  with 
a  small  but  chosen  band,  with  such  artillery  and  light  stores  as 
were  necessary  ;  leaving  the  heavy  artillery,  baggage,  and  the 
like,  with  the  rear  division  of  the  army,  to  follow  by  slow  and  easy 
marches,  which  they  might  do  safely,  while  we  were  advanced  in 
front." 

This  advice  prevailed  in  the  council,  and  being  approved  by 
the  general,  he  advanced  on  the  19th  of  June,  with  twelve  hun 
dred  chosen  men,  and  officers  from  all  the  different  corps,  leaving 
the  remainder,  with  most  of  the  wagons,  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  Dunbar,  with  instructions  to  follow  as  fast  as  he  could. 
Notwithstanding  this  arrangement,  Braddock  advanced  very 
slowly,  "halting  to  level  every  mole-hill,  and  to  erect  bridges 
over  every  brook,  by  which  means  he  was  four  days  in  advancing 
twelve  miles." 

At  this  time  Washington  was  suffering  from  the  effects  of  a 
severe  fever.  On  the  14th,  but  three  days  after  the  army  com 
menced  its  march  from  Will's  Creek,  he  was  attacked  by  a  violent 
fever  and  pain  in  the  head,  which  continued  without  intermission 
for  nine  days.  On  the  23d,  the  fever  and  pain  began  to  abate. 
His  illness  was  too  violent  to  suffer  him  to  ride  on  horseback, 


MARCH  OF  GENERAL  BRADDOCK.       79 

and  he  soon  found  it  necessary  to  make  use  of  a  covered  wagon ; 
but  the  jolting  was  so  great  that  he  could  continue  in  it  but  a 
short  time,  at  the  rate  of  the  advanced  detachment.  He  was 
accordingly  advised,  by  the  general,  to  wait  the  arrival  of  Colonel 
Dunbar's  detachment,  which  was  two  days'  march  behind.  On  his 
manifesting  a  strong  disinclination  to  be  left  behind,  the  doctor 
declared  that  if  he  persevered  in  his  determination  to  go  on,  in 
the  condition  in  which  he  then  was,  his  life  would  be  endan 
gered.  This,  with  the  promise  of  the  general,  that  he  should 
be  brought  up  before  he  reached  the  French  fort,  induced  him  to 
halt  and  await  Dunbar's  detachment.  He  continued  with  the 
rear  division  two  weeks,  when  he  was  so  far  recovered  as  to  bear 
the  fatigue  of  quick  travelling  in  a  covered  wagon.  In  this  way, 
on  the  8th  of  July,  he  rejoined  the  advanced  division,  and  on  the 
next  day,  the  day  of  the  battle,  attended  the  general  on  horseback, 
though  still  very  weak. 

N  joining  Braddock's  division  on  the  8th,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Youghiogany,  Washington  was 
surprised  to  find  them,  though  within  fifteen 
miles  of  the  fort,  marching  in  regular  European 
order,  in  as  perfect  security  as  if  they  were  on 
the  wide  plains  of  the  Eastern  Hemisphere  ;  or 
in  a  peaceful  review,  on  a  field  day,  in  England. 
They  marched  without  advanced  guards  or  scouts  ;  and  the  offer 
of  Washington  to  scour  the  woods,  in  front  and  on  the  flanks,  with 
his  Virginian  provincials,  was  haughtily  rejected. 

A  considerable  bend  in  the  Monongahela  river,  and  the  nature 
of  the  banks,  made  it  necessary  for  the  army  to  cross  it  twice 
before  they  reached  the  fort.  On  the  morning  of  the  ninth  of  July, 
every  thing  being  in  readiness,  the  whole  train  crossed  the  river 
in  perfect  order,  a  short  distance  below  the  mouth  of  the  Youghio 
gany,  and  took  up  their  line  of  march  along  its  southern  bank,  in 
high  spirits.  The  garrison  of  the  fort  was  understood  to  be  small, 
and  quite  inadequate  to  resist  the  force  now  brought  to  bear  upon 
it ;  exulting  hope  filled  every  heart ;  and  no  one  doubted  that  he 
should  see  ihe  British  flag  waving,  next  day,  over  the  battlements  ; 
and  the  enemy  obliged  to  retire  to  Canada,  or  surrender  them 
selves  prisoners  of  war.  The  march  on  that  morning  is  described 
as  a  splendid  spectacle  ;  being  made  in  full  military  array,  in 
exact  order,  the  sun  glancing  from  the  burnished  bayonets  to  the 
scarlet  uniform  of  the  regulars,  with  a  majestic  river  on  the  right, 
and  dark,  deep  woods  on  the  left.  Not  an  enemy  appeared,  and 


80 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


BATTLE-GROUND     OF     THE     MONON3AHELA. 

the  most  profound  silence  reigned  over  this  wild  territory.  The 
only  countenance  among  them  which  was  clouded  with  care  or 
concern  was  that  of  Washington,  wrho,  as  he  rode  beside  the 
general,  vainly  represented  that  the  profound  silence  and  apparent 
solitude  of  the  gloomy  scenes  around  them  afforded  no  security 
in  American  warfare  against  deadly  and  imminent  danger. 
Again,  and  still  vainly,  did  he  offer  to  scour  the  woods  in  front 
and  on  the  left  with  the  provincial  troops.  The  general  treated 
his  fears  as  the  effects  of  fever  upon  his  brain,  and  the  provincials 
were  ordered  to  form  the  rear-guard  of  the  detachment. 

About  noon  they  reached  the  second  crossing-place,  within  ten 
miles  of  Fort  Duquesne,  and  at  one  o'clock  had  all  crossed  the 
river  in  safety.  Three  hundred  men  under  Colonel  Gage  formed 
the  advanced  party,  which  was  closely  followed  by  a  party  of  two 
hundred  ;  and  last  of  all  followed  the  general  with  the  main  body, 
consisting  of  about  seven  hundred  men,  the  artillery  and  baggage. 

After  crossing  the  river,  the  road  along  which  they  marched  led 
for  about  a  half  a  mile  through  a  low  plain,  and  then  commenced 
a  gradual  ascent  of  about  three  degrees,  the  prospect  being  shut 
in  by  hills  in  the  distance.  About  a  hundred  and  fifty  yards  from 
the  bottom  of  this  inclined  plain,  and  about  equi-distant  from  the 
road  leading  to  the  fort,  commenced  two  ravines,  from  eight  to  ten 
feet  deep,  which  led  off  in  different  directions  until  they  ter 
minated  in  the  plain  below.  Covered  as  these  ravines  were  with 


BRADDOCK'S    DEFEAT.  81 

trees  and  long  grass,  and  the  British  having  no  scouts,  it  was  im 
possible  for  them  to  discover  their  existence  without  approaching 
within  a  few  feet  of  them.  Up  this  inclined  plain,  between  these 
ravines,  General  Braddock  led  his  army  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
9th  of  July. 

While  the  English  were  thus  leisurely  advancing,  the  scouts  of 
the  French  kept  the  commandant  of  Fort  Duquesne  accurately 
informed  of  their  motions  and  their  numbers.  Believing  the  small 
force  under  his  command  wholly  inadequate  to  the  defence  of  the 
fort  against  three  thousand  men,  with  a  formidable  park  of  artillery, 
as  his  scouts  had  represented  them,  he  was  hesitating  what  course 
to  pursue,  when  Captain  de  Beaujeu  offered  to  lead  a  small  party 
of  French  and  Indians  to  meet  the  enemy  and  harass  his  march. 
It  required  a  great  deal  of  persuasion  to  induce  the  Indians  to 
engage  in  what  they  considered  an  impossible  undertaking,  but 
possessing  their  confidence,  he  finally  subdued  their  unwillingness, 
and  induced  about  six  hundred  of  them  to  accompany  him.  With 
these  and  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  French  and  Canadians,  he 
intended  to  occupy  the  banks  of  the  Monongahela,  and  harass 
the  English  as  they  crossed  the  river.  It  was  only  on  the  morning 
of  the  9th,  that  he  was  ready  to  start  on  this  expedition,  and  when 
he  arrived  near  the  river  his  spies  reported  that  Braddock  had 
already  crossed.  Finding  that  he  was  too  late  to  pursue  his 
original  plan,  De  Beaujeu  placed  his  followers  in  the  ravines 
before  mentioned,  between  which  the  English  were  seen  advanc 
ing  along  the  road. 

When  the  three  hundred  under  Gage  came  near  the  head  of  the 
ravines,  a  heavy  discharge  of  musketry  wras  poured  in  upon  their 
front,  and  immediately  after  another  upon  their  left  flank.  This 
was  the  first  notice  which  they  had  of  the  presence  of  an  enemy. 
Braddock  was  completely  surprised.  Gage  ordered  his  men  to 
fire,  and  though  no  enemy  was  visible,  yet  they  poured  such  a 
discharge  upon  the  spot  where  the  smoke  of  the  first  fire  was  still 
to  be  seen,  that  the  Indians,  believing  that  it  proceeded  from 
artillery,  were  upon  the  point  of  retreating.  Their  indecision  was 
but  for  an  instant,  for  the  advance  falling  back  on  the  main  body, 
threw  them  into  confusion ;  and  instead  of  following  the  example 
of  the  Indians  and  taking  to  the  trees,  or  opening  upon  their  invisi 
ble  foe  a  discharge  of  grape,  they  were  ordered  by  Braddock  to 
maintain  their  ranks  and  advance.  Captain  De  Beaujeu  was  killed 
by  the  first  discharge  of  Gage's  men,  and  Captain  Dumas,  who 
succeeded  him  in  the  command,  immediately  rallied  the  Indians, 
11 


82  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

and  sending  them  down  the  ravines,  ordered  them  to  attack  the 
enemy  on  each  flank,  while  he,  with  the  French  and  Canadians, 
maintained  his  position  in  front.  Then  commenced  a  terrible  car 
nage.  The  British,  panic-struck  and  bewildered,  huddled  together 
in  squads,  heeded  not  the  commands  of  their  officers,  who  were  riding 
about  madly  urging  them  to  advance,  but  they  only  iled  from  one  side 
of  the  field  to  be  met  by  the  fire  of  an  invisible  foe  on  the  other 
side;  and  then  they  would  gather  in  small  parties  as  if  they  hoped 
to  shield  themselves  behind  the  bodies  of  their  friends;  firing 
without  aim,  oftener  shooting  down  their  own  officers  and  men 
than  Indians.  Their  only  hope  would  now  have  been  to  separate, 
rush  behind  the  trees,  and  fight  man  to  man  with  their  assailants; 
butBraddock  insisted  on  forming  them  into  platoons  and  columns, 
in  order  to  make  regular  discharges,  which  struck  only  the  trees, 
or  tore  up  the  ground  in  front.  The  Virginians  alone  seemed  to 
retain  their  senses.  Notwithstanding  the  prohibition  of  the 
general,  they  no  sooner  knew  the  enemy  with  whom  they  had  to 
deal,  than  they  adopted  the  Indian  mode  of  fighting,  and  each 
for  himself,  behind  a  tree,  manifested  bravery  worthy  of  a  better 
fate. 

Meanwhile  the  French  and  Indians,  secure  behind  their  natural 
breastworks,  aimed  deliberately,  first  at  the  officers  on  horseback, 
and  then  at  others,  each  shot  bringing  down  a  man.  The  leaders, 
selected  by  unerring  aim,  fell  first.  Captains  Orme  and  Morris, 
two  of  the  three  aides-de-camp,  were  wounded  early  in  the  action, 
and  Washington  wras  the  only  person  left  to  distribute  the  general's 
orders,  which  he  was  scarcely  able  to  do,  as  he  was  not  more  than 
half  recovered  from  his  illness.  Notwithstanding  the  neglect 
with  which  his  warnings  had  been  treated,  he  still  aided  his  gene 
ral  with  his  mental  as  well  as  his  physical  powers  ;  though  the 
troops  lay  thick  around  him  in  slaughtered  heaps,  he  still  gave 
the  aid  of  salutary  counsel  to  his  ill-fated  chief,  and  urged  it  with 
all  the  grace  of  eloquence,  and  all  the  force  of  conviction.  Riding 
in  every  direction,  his  manly  form  drew  the  attention  of  the 
savages,  and  they  doomed  him  to  destruction.  The  murdering 
rifles  were  levelled,  the  quick  bullets  flew  winged  with  death,  and 
pierced  his  garments ;  but,  obedient  to  the  Sovereign  will,  they 
dared  not  shed  his  blood.  One  chieftain  especially  singled 
Washington  out  as  a  conspicuous  mark,  fired  his  rifle  at  him 
many  times,  and  ordered  his  young  warriors  to  do  the  same,  until 
they  became  convinced  that  he  was  under  the  especial  protection 
of  the  Great  Spirit,  and  would  never  die  in  battle,  when  they 


DEATH  OF  GENERAL  BRADDOCK.       85 

desisted.  Although  four  balls  passed  through  Washington's  coat, 
and  two  horses  were  shot  under  him,  he  escaped  unhurt. 

Washington's  conduct  in  the  action  is  described  by  an  eye 
witness  whose  verbal  account  is  thus  given  by  Mr.  Paulding. 
"I  saw  him  take  hold  of  a  brass  field-piece,  as  if  it  had  been  a 
stick.  He  looked  like  a  fury ;  he  tore  the  sheet-lead  from  the 
touch-hole ;  he  placed  one  hand  on  the  muzzle,  the  other  on  the 
breach ;  he  pulled  with  this,  and  he  pushed  with  that,  and  wheeled 
it  round  as  if  it  had  been  nothing.  It  tore  the  ground  like  a  bar- 
share.*  The  powder  monkey  rushed  up  with  the  fire,  and  then 
the  cannon  began  to  bark,  I  tell  you.  They  fought  and  they 
fought,  and  the  Indians  began  to  holla,  when  the  rest  of  the  brass 
cannon  made  the  bark  of  the  trees  fly,  and  the  Indians  come  down. 
That  place  they  call  Rock  Hill,  and  there  they  left  five  hundred 
men  dead  on  the  ground."! 

After  the  slaughter  had  thus  continued  for  three  hours,  General 
Braddock,  after  having  three  horses  killed  under  him,  received  a 
shot  through  the  right  arm  and  the  lungs,  and  was  borne  from  the 
field  by  Colonel  Gage.  More  than  one  half  of  the  soldiers  who 
had  so  proudly  crossed  the  river,  three  hours  before,  were  now 
killed  or  wounded,  and  the  rest,  on  the  fall  of  the  general,  fled 
precipitately.  The  provincials,  who  were  among  the  last  to  leave 
the  ground,  were  kept  in  order  by  Washington,  and  served  to 
cover  the  retreat  of  the  regulars.  The  officers  in  general  remained 
on  the  field  while  there  seemed  any  hope  of  rallying  their  troops, 
and  consequently,  out  of  eighty-six  engaged,  sixty-three  were 
killed  or  wounded.  Of  the  privates,  seven  hundred  and  fourteen 
fell.  The  rout  was  complete,  and  the  more  disgraceful  in  that  it 
was  before  an  inferior  enemy,  who  attacked  without  the  least  hope 
of  such  success,  and  during  the  whole  battle  lost  but  forty  men. 
Most  of  these  were  Indians  killed  in  venturing  out  of  the  ravine 
to  take  scalps. 

Captain  Dumas  thought  his  force  too  weak  to  pursue  the  fugi 
tives,  who  fled  precipitately  until  they  had  recrossed  the  Monon- 
gahela,  when  being  no  longer  in  immediate  danger,  they  again 
formed.  Colonel  Washington  hastened  forward  to  bring  up 
wagons  and  other  conveyances  for  the  wounded. 

General  Braddock,  under  the  particular  charge  of  Captain 
Stewart  of  the  Virginia  forces,  was  at  first  conveyed  in  a  tumbril ; 
afterwards  he  was  placed  on  horseback,  but  being  unable  to  ride, 
he  was  obliged  to  be  carried  by  soldiers.  In  this  way  he  was 

*  A  kind  of  plough.  j  See  vignette  on  the  title  page. 

H 


86 


LIFE  OF  WASHINGTON. 


transported  until,  on  the  night  of  the  13th,  when  they  arrived  within 
a  mile  of  Fort  Necessity,  where  he  died,  and  was  buried  in  his 
cloak,  in  the  road,  to  elude  the  search  of  the  Indians.  Washington, 
by  the  light  of  a  torch,  read  the  funeral  service  over  his  remains. 
The  news  of  the  defeat  soon  reached  the  rear  division  under 
Colonel  Dunbar.  The  greatest  confusion  for  a  time  reigned  in 
his  camp.  The  artillery  stores  were  destroyed,  the  heavy  bag 
gage  burned,  and  as  soon  as  the  fugitives  arrived  he  took  up 
the  line  of  march  with  all  speed  for  Philadelphia.  Colonel  Wash 
ington  proceeded  to  Mount  Vernon,  justly  indignant  at  the  con 
duct  of  the  regulars  in  the  late  engagement,  though  his  own 
bravery  and  good  conduct  in  the  action  gained  him  the  applause 
of  all  his  countrymen. 


BURIAL     OF     SHADDOCK. 


THE    EXPEDITION    AGAINST    NIAGARA. 


87 


CHAPTER   V. 


paign.       2$attlk  of  3Ufe* 


HE  expeditions  against  Niagara  and  Crown 
Point  also  failed,  though  their  failure  was 
not  attended  with  such  disastrous  conse 
quences  as  that  against  Fort  Duquesne. 
The  troops  destined  for  both  these  expedi 
tions  assembled  at  Albany.  Governor  Shir 
ley  of  Massachusetts  took  the  command  of 
that  against  Niagara.  Various  causes  operat 
ing  to  prevent  the  commencement  of  his  march,  the  season  was 
well  advanced  before  he  left  Albany.  His  army  was  composed 
of  certain  regiments  of  regulars  from  New  England,  New  York, 
and  New  Jersey,  and  a  few  Indians.  At  last,  in  the  month  of 
July,  (1755,)  he  commenced  his  march  for  Oswego,  but  before  he 
arrived  at  that  place,  the  news  of  the  defeat  of  Braddock  overtook 
him,  and  spread  such  a  consternation  through  his  army,  that  many 
deserted,  and  the  Indians,  always  vacillating  and  inclined  to 
favour  the  stronger  party,  began  to  manifest  great  unwillingness 


88  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

to  proceed.  The  necessity  of  securing  the  good  will  and  co 
operation  of  his  savage  allies,  made  some  farther  delay  inevitable, 
so  that  it  was  not  until  the  21st  of  August  that  he  arrived  at 
Oswego. 

After  remaining  there  for  some  time,  in  the  hope  of  filling  up 
his  army,  and  waiting  till  all  the  Indians  had  leTt  him,  he  made  a 
vigorous  effort  to  reach  Niagara,  but  wras  prevented  by  a  succes 
sion  of  heavy  rains,  and  the  increasing  sickness  of  the  few  sol 
diers  who  remained  with  him.  Considering  these  obstacles 
insurmountable,  he  left  a  garrison  of  seven  hundred  men  at  Os 
wego,  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Mercer,  and  instructing  him 
to  build  two  other  forts,  to  secure  the  command  of  the  lake,  he 
returned  with  the  remainder  of  the  army  to  Albany. 

The  army  destined  for  the  reduction  of  Crown  Point  consisted 
of  about  five  thousand  men.  The  command  was  given  to  William 
Johnsonian  Irishman^who  began  life  as  a  common  soldier,  but 
whose  uncommon  bodily  strength,  with  a  rude  energy  of  cha 
racter,  had  enabled  him  to  acquire  the  friendship  of  some  of  the 
most  powerful  chiefs  of  the  Six  Nations.  During  a  residence  of 
several  years  on  the  banks  of  the  Mohawk,  he  cultivated  this 
friendship  with  such  assiduity,  that  now,  on  his  being  appointed 
commander  of  the  expedition,  he  was  immediately  joined  by 
Hendrick,  one  of  the  chiefs  of  that  confederacy,  with  three  hun 
dred  picked  warriors. 

Impatient  to  commence  the  campaign,  Johnson  made  all  haste 
in  collecting  the  artillery  and  military  stores,  and  in  the  mean  time 
sent  the  troops  forward  under  General  Lyman,  the  second  in 
command,  to  the  carrying  place,  about  sixty  miles  above  Albany, 
where  he  soon  after  joined  them,  and  began  to  build  a  fort  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  Hudson,  which  he  called  Fort  Edward. 
Leaving  a  few  men  to  garrison  the  new  fort,  he  advanced  with  the 
main  body  of  his  army  to  the  southern  extremity  of  Lake  George, 
where  he  learned  that  the  enemy  were  erecting  a  fort  at  Ticon- 
deroga,  at  the  other  extremity  of  the  lake,  and  about  fifteen  miles 
below  Crown  Point.  He  resolved  to  push  forward,  hoping  by 
so  doing  to  reduce  the  new  fort  before  it  could  be  put  in  a  state 
of  defence,  but  before  he  advanced  he  received  information  which 
obliged  him  to  stand  on  the  defensive. 

This  intelligence,  which  changed  the  whole  character  of  the 
campaign,  wras,  that  Baron  Dieskau,  an  able  commander,  had 
recently  arrived  in  Canada  from  France,  with  a  large  reinforce 
ment,  and  that,  having  collected  a  considerable  body  of  Canadians 


JOHNSON'S    EXPEDITION.  89 

and  Indians,  he  was  now  advancing  with  great  speed  to  attack 
the  English  settlements. 

Johnson  transmitted  this  intelligence  to  the  colonies,  and  began 
with  haste  to  fortify  his  camp.  He  could  gain  no  definite  idea 
of  the  numbers  of  Dieskau's  army,  the  Indian  spies  uniformly 
reporting  them  as  innumerable,  by  pointing  to  the  stars  in  the  sky, 
or  the  hairs  of  the  head.  It  was  impossible  from  their  accounts 
to  discover  whether  they  fell  short  of  a  thousand,  or  exceeded  ten 
thousand  in  number.  Thus,  left  in  doubt,  and  not  knowing  the 
destination  of  the  enemy,  Johnson  secretly  conveyed  a  few  can 
non  from  Fort  Edward  to  his  camp,  and  doubling  his  spies  and 
scouts  awaited  the  expected  attack. 

Dieskau  at  first  proceeded  towards  Oswego,  but  on  learning  the 
advance  of  Johnson  with  an  inferior  army  towards  Crown  Point, 
hastened  to  direct  his  operations  against  him  ;  and  so  confident 
was  he  of  an  easy  victory,  that  he  made  known  his  intention  after 
the  capture  of  Fort  Edward  to  destroy  Albany,  ravage  the  neigh 
bouring  settlements,  and  cut  off  the  English  from  all  communica 
tion  with  Oswego,  which  would  soon  be  compelled  to  surrender. 
His  superior  strength  and  skill  rendered  this  result  very  probable ; 
but  victory  does  not  always  smile  on  the  strong,  and  the  wisdom 
of  the  most  experienced  may  sometimes  fail  them. 

Dieskau's  hopes  were  raised  to  a  high  pitch,  and  his  contempt 
for  his  English  enemy  greatly  increased  by  a  blunder  of  Johnson's ; 
who,  deceived  by  the  information  that  the  van  of  the  enemy  was 
advancing  incautiously,  on  the  sixth  of  September,  sent  forward 
a  party  of  a  thousand  men  under  Colonel  Williams,  together  with 
Hendrick  and  his  Indians,  to  attack  them.  Scarcely  had  this 
party  advanced  three  miles,  when  they  found  themselves  almost 
surrounded  by  the  whole  French  army.  Nothing  daunted,  they 
commenced  a  spirited  but  hopeless  conflict,  wrhich  resulted  in  the 
death  of  their  gallant  leader,  Colonel  Williams;  and  Hendrick, 
with  many  of  his  followers,  was  also  among  the  slain.  The 
greater  part  of  the  detachment  escaped  to  the  camp,  closely  pur 
sued  by  the  victorious  French. 

Having  heard,  a  few  days  before,  that  Johnson  had  no  artillery 
at  his  camp,  Dieskau  was  confident  of  victory,  and  consequently, 
instead  of  attacking  the  entrenchments  at  once,  permitted  his  sol 
diers  to  pause  at  some  distance,  that  they  might  be  regularly 
formed,  and  advance  with  decency  and  in  the  true  European  style, 
to  take  possession  of  the  fort. 

Johnson,  though  now  convinced  of  his  great  inferiority,  but 
12  n2 


90  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

having  thj^cpurage  of_an  Irishnian^determined  to  resist  to  the 
last ;  and  uncovering  his  cannon,  effectually  disturbed  the  repose 
of  the  enemy,  and  spread  such  consternation  among  the  Canadian 
militia  and  the  Indians,  that  they  fled  precipitately  to  the  woods, 
leaving  the  ranks  of  Dieskau  in  more  confusion  than  when  pur 
suing  the  retreating  foe.  The  French  regulars,  however,  main 
tained  their  position,  and  opening  a  brisk  fire  upon  the  camp, 
continued  the  assault  with  spirit  for  several  hours.  Johnson 
being  severely  wounded,  reluctantly  resigned  the  command  to 
General  Lyman,  who  carried  on  the  defence  with  such  resolution 
and  spirit  that  the  French  were  finally  obliged  to  retire  with  the 
loss  of  nearly  a  thousand  men.  Dieskau  himself  was  mortally 
wounded,  and  made  prisoner ;  and  his  retreating  forces,  rallying 
at  some  distance,  and  preparing  to  refresh  themselves  with  food, 
were  suddenly  attacked  by  a  small  detachment  of  militia  from 
New  York,  wThen  they  abandoned  their  baggage  and  ammunition, 
and  fled  in  confusion. 

Johnson  did  not  follow  up  his  victory,  but  spent  the  time  in 
lingering  and  irresolute  deliberations  until  October,  when  a  coun 
cil  of  wrar  decided  that  it  was  inexpedient  to  attempt  any  further 
military  operations  in  that  quarter  during  that  year.  He  built 
Fort  William  Henry  at  the  southern  extremity  of  Lake  George, 
and  leaving  six  hundred  men  to  garrison  it  and  Fort  Edward, 
disbanded  the  remainder  of  his  army.  It  was  thought  by  many 
that  if  he  had  followed  up  his  victory  by  an  immediate  attack  on 
Crown  Point,  or  even  on  Ticonderoga,  he  would  have  succeeded  ; 
but  he  did  not  choose  to  hazard  his  reputation,  by  exposing  him 
self  to  the  chance  of  defeat.  For  his  services  in  this  campaign, 
Johnson  received  from  the  king  the  dignity  of  a  baronet,  and  from 
the  parliament  a  grant  of  five  thousand  pounds. 

Thus  did  the  three  main  expeditions  projected  by  the  council 
of  governors  at  Alexandria,  in  the  beginning  of  the  year,  all  sig 
nally  fail ;  and  at  the  end  of  1755,  the  French  were  more  firmly 
planted  in  their  North  American  possessions  than  at  its  commence 
ment.  The  brilliant  engagement  at  Lake  George  produced  no 
lasting  good,  because  it  was  not  followed  up  with  alacrity  ;  and 
the  French  gained  time  to  strengthen  and  complete  their  fortifica 
tions.  Besides,  the  fact  that  they  still  held  all  their  works,  and 
were  hastening  forward  to  construct  others,  and  the  great  victory 
gained  at  the  Monongahela,  operated  powerfully  on  the  minds  of 
the  Indians,  who  began,  in  great  numbers,  to  flock  to  their  standard. 

Encouraged  by  this  seeming  willingness  of  the  Indians  to  join 


ALLIANCE    WITH    THE    CHEROKEES. 


91 


them,  the  French  attempted,  by  bribes  and  promises,  to  allure  to 
their  side  the  powerful  nation  of  Cherokees,  who  had  hitherto 
been  the  firmest  allies  of  Great  Britain ;  but  the  attempt  only 
caused  these  Indians  to  enter  into  a  closer  alliance  with  the  Eng 
lish  colonists  ;  and  by  a  treaty  concluded  with  the  governor  of 
South  Carolina,  they  voluntarily  ceded  to  the  king  of  Great  Bri 
tain  a  large  portion  of  their  territory. 


92 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

of 


:Zi:.i:ilIE  defeat  of  Braddock,  and  the  flight  of  Dunbar, 
left  the  frontier  of  Virginia  exposed  to  all  the  hor 
rors  of  Indian  warfare.  The  Assembly  then  in 
session  saw  the  danger  to  which  the  colony  was 
exposed,  and  the  necessity  of  protecting  it. 
For  this  purpose,  they  voted  forty  thousand 
pounds,  and  the  governor  ordered  the  regiment  to  be  increased  to 
sixteen  companies.  The  courage  and  good  conduct  shown  by 
Colonel  Washington  at  the  battle  of  the  Monongahela,  pointed  him 
out  as  the  only  person  in  the  colony  who  was  capable  of  affording 
the  desired  protection,  and  he  was  accordingly  appointed,  on  the 
14th  of  August,  1755,  commander-in-chief  of  the  Virginia  forces. 
This  commission  was  accompanied  by  a  letter  from  Governor 
Dinwiddie,  giving  him  the  unusual  power  of  naming  his  field- 
officers,  and  appointing  an  aide-de-camp  and  secretary. 

This  command  was  cheerfully  accepted  by  Washington,  though 
well  aware  of  the  nature  of  the  charge  which  it  imposed  upon  him. 
With  very  few  men,  nominally  one  thousand,  but  seldom  exceed 
ing  seven  hundred,  he  was  expected  to  defend  a  frontier  of 


INDIAN    INCURSIONS.  93 

upwards  of  three  hundred  miles  in  extent,  against  hordes  of 
savages,  who  were  instigated  to  the  most  barbarous  murders  by 
men  calling  themselves  civilized,  Christians,  and  subjects  of  his 
majesty,  the  king  of  the  French. 

Possessing  a  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  his  duties,  Washington 
felt  that  there  was  no  time  to  be  lost,  and  accordingly  after 
appointing  as  the  next  officers  in  rank  under  him,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Adam  Stephen,  and  Major  Andrew  Lewis,  and  issuing 
the  necessary  orders  for  the  recruiting  service,  he  proceeded  per 
sonally  to  inspect  the  condition  of  the  defences  on  the  frontier. 
He  fixed  his  head-quarters  at  Winchester,  where  he  arrived  on  the 
14th  of  September,  and  then  visited  and  took  the  command  of  the 
principal  forts.  He  found  many  posts,  but  few  soldiers  to  gar 
rison.  Such  as  he  found,  however,  he  disposed  in  the  most 
efficient  manner,  and  then  started  for  Williamsburg  to  arrange  a 
plan  of  operations  with  the  governor.  He  passed  through  Frede- 
ricksburg  on  the  5th  of  October,  but  he  had  not  reached  Williams- 
burg  when  he  was  overtaken  by  an  express  from  Colonel  Stephen, 
informing  him  that  a  large  body  of  Indians  had  fallen  upon  the 
inhabitants  of  some  of  the  back  settlements,  and  were  murdering 
and  capturing  men,  wromen,  and  children,  burning  their  houses 
and  destroying  their  crops,  and  that  the  few  soldiers  who  were 
stationed  there  for  their  protection  had  fallen  back  upon  the 
stockade  forts,  where  they  were  hourly  in  expectation  of  de 
struction. 

Colonel  Washington  immediately  changed  his  course  from 
Williamsburg  to  Winchester,  where  he  used  every  exertion  to 
induce  the  terrified  and  flying  settlers  to  unite  in  the  defence  of 
their  families  and  possessions.  Too  much  frightened  to  care  for 
any  thing  but  the  safety  of  their  own  families,  they  took  very  little 
thought  for  the  general  welfare,  and  fled  in  confusion  towards  the 
more  thickly  settled  portions  of  the  colony.  Such  was  the  con 
sternation  and  confusion  that  prevailed,  that  before  a  force  suffi 
cient  to  stand  before  the  enemy  could  be  collected,  they  had 
recrossed  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  and  retired  with  their  plunder 
and  captives  to  the  protection  afforded  by  the  guns  of  Fort  Du- 
quesne. 

Colonel  Washington  well  knew  that  the  only  security  against 
the  repetition  of  such  incursions  was  the  capture  of  the  French 
fort  on  the  Ohio  ;  but  that  was  an  absolute  impossibility  with  the 
small  means  which  the  government  of  Virginia  thought  fit  to  place 
at  his  disposal.  The  governor  and  council  considered  it  better 


94  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

to  act  on  the  defensive ;  and  Washington  was  ordered  to  establish 
a  line  of  small  stockade  forts  along  the  frontier.  This  was  soon 
done,  and  the  principal  part  of  the  forces  under  Washington  being 
stationed  in  them,  he,  with  the  remainder,  traversed  the  frontier, 
for  the  purpose  of  preventing  or  punishing  the  aggressions  of  the 
enemy.  • 

The  force  at  his  command  was  too  small  to  accomplish  the 
intended  object,  and  the  enemy  with  whom  he  had  to  deal,  too 
active  and  cunning  to  suffer  from  the  forts.  If  Washington 
appeared  with  a  force  at  any  one  part  of  his  extended  line,  the 
enemy  knew  that  the  remainder  of  the  line  was  proportionally 
weakened,  and  they  would  accordingly  divide  themselves  into 
small  parties,  and,  avoiding  the  forts,  assail  solitary  farm-houses, 
by  night  or  by  day,  and  after  plundering  them  and  murdering 
their  inmates,  set  them  on  fire  and  retire.  The  approach  of  a 
respectable  force  was  the  signal  for  the  incendiaries  to  disappear. 
The  distress  of  the  inhabitants,  caused  by  these  incursions,  ex 
ceeded  all  description.  If  they  continued  on  their  farms,  they 
retired  to  rest  every  night  under  the  apprehension  of  being  mur 
dered  before  the  morning;  if  they  fled,  they  abandoned  the  con 
veniences  of  home,  and  all  means  of  support ;  and  if  they  took 
refuge  in  the  stockade  forts,  they  suffered  from  famine,  and  were 
always  liable  to  be  cut  off  and  murdered  by  strong  parties. 
Death,  too,  was  not  the  greatest  of  the  evils  to  which  they  were 
exposed.  Captivity,  or  torture,  by  which  death  was  rendered  a 
thousand  times  more  terrible,  and  yet  often  wrelcome,  was  often 
their  portion.  Nor  was  it  the  men  alone,  who  were  liable  to 
these  evils,  but  the  women  and  children;  for  the  savages  and  their 
inhuman  allies  made  litile  distinction  on  account  of  age  or  sex. 

.The  vigilance  and  authority  of  Washington  at  last  succeeded 
in  restoring  a  little  of  the  confidence  of  the  inhabitants,  and  in 
opposing  a  slight  barrier  to  the  incursions  of  the  enemy. 

Some  of  the  difficulties  with  which  Colonel  Washington  was 
surrounded  at  this  period,  exclusive  of  those  naturally  to  be 
expected  from  an  active  and  vigilant  enemy,  and  the  smallness 
of  his  numbers,  compared  with  the  services  expected  from  him, 
may  be  gathered  from  the  tenor  of  his  letters  to  Governor  Din- 
widdie. 

In  one  dated  from  Fredericksburg,  about  two  months  after  he 
had  assumed  the  command,  speaking  of  the  difficulties  which  met 
him  at  the  very  outset,  he  says : 

"In  all  things  I  meet  with  the  greatest  opposition. 


WANT    OF    DISCIPLINE.  95 

"No  orders  are  obeyed,  but  such  as  a  party  of  soldiers  or  my 
own  drawn  sword  enforces.  Without  this,  not  a  single  horse,  for 
the  most  earnest  occasion,  can  be  had,  to  such  a  pitch  has  the 
insolence  of  these  people  arrived,  by  having  every  point  hitherto 
submitted  to  them.  However,  I  have  given  up  none,  where  his 
majesty's  service  requires  the  contrary,  and  when  my  proceedings 
are  justified  by  my  instructions  ;  nor  will  I,  unless  they  execute 
what  they  threaten,  that  is,  'blow  out  our  brains.'  " 

In  the  same  letters,  complaining  of  his  inadequate  authority  to 
enforce  military  discipline,  he  says  : 

"I  would  again  hint  the  necessity  of  putting  the  militia  under 
a  better  regulation,  had  I  not  mentioned  it  twice  before,  and  a 
third  time  may  seem  impertinent.  But  I  must  once  more  beg 
leave  to  declare,  for  here  I  am  more  immediately  concerned,  that 
unless  the  Assembly  will  pass  an  act  to  enforce  military  law  in 
all  its  parts,  I  must,  with  great  regret,  decline  the  honour  that  has 
been  so  generously  intended  me.  I  am  urged  to  this,  by  the  fore 
knowledge  I  have  of  failing  in  every  point  that  might  justly  be 
expected  from  a  person  invested  writh  full  power  to  execute  his 
authority.  I  see  the  growing  insolence  of  the  soldiers,  and  the 
indolence  and  inactivity  of  the  officers,  who  are  all  sensible  ho\v 
limited  their  punishments  are,  compared  with  what  they  ought  to 
be.  In  fine,  I  can  plainly  see,  that  under  the  present  establish 
ment,  we  shall  become  a  nuisance,  an  insupportable  charge  to 
our  country,  and  never  answer  any  one  expectation  of  the  Assem 
bly.  And  here  I  must  assume  the  freedom  to  express  some  sur 
prise,  that  we  alone  should  be  so  tenacious  of  our  liberty  as  not 
to  invest  a  power  where  interest  and  policy  so  unanswerably 
demand  it,  and  whence  so  much  good  must  consequently  ensue. 
Do  we  not  know  that  every  nation  under  the  sun  finds  its  account 
therein,  and  that  without  it,  no  order  or  regularity  can  be  ob 
served  ?  Why  then  should  it  be  expected  from  us,  who  are  all 
young  and  inexperienced,  to  govern  and  keep  up  a  proper  spirit 
of  discipline  without  laws,  when  the  best  and  most  experienced 
can  scarcely  do  it  with  them  ?  If  we  consult  our  interest,  I  am 
sure  it  loudly  calls  for  them.  I  can  confidently  assert,  that 
recruiting,  clothing,  arming,  maintaining  and  subsisting  soldiers 
who  have  since  deserted,  have  cost  the  country  an  immense  sum, 
which  might  have  been  prevented,  were  we  under  restraints  that 
would  terrify  the  soldiers  from  such  practices." 

Strictly  punctilious  in  yielding  deference  and  obedience  to 
those  who  by  the  laws  and  usages  of  the  army,  were  entitled  to 


96  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

exact  it,  Washington,  as  we  have  already  seen,  was  peculiarly 
sensitive  when  any  portion  of  his  rights  as  an  officer  were  invaded. 
And  now,  to  add  to  the  difficulties  by  which  he  was  surrounded, 
the  old  difficulty  between  the  provincial  officers  and  those  holding 
the  king's  commissions  was  revived.  A  certain  Captain  Dag- 
worthy,  who  had  received  his  commission  from  the  king,  and  had 
served  in  the  Canada  expedition,  was  now  at  Fort  Cumberland, 
at  the  head  of  thirty  volunteers,  raised  by  the  colony  of  Maryland, 
and  acting  under  the  authority  of  that  province.  Dagworthy 
refused  to  obey  the  orders  of  any  provincial  officer,  no  matter  how 
high  his  rank  might  be.  This  led  to  wranglings  and  the  formation 
of  parties  among  the  inferior  officers,  and  Washington  complained. 
The  governor  of  Maryland,  wishing  to  consider  Fort  Cumberland 
under  his  authority,  refused  to  interfere.  The  governor  of  Vir 
ginia  contended,  from  the  fact  that  the  fort  had  been  built  by  him, 
under  an  order  from  the  king,  that  Maryland  had  no  authority 
over  it,  though  it  was  situated  within  the  bounds  of  that  province. 
He  considered  it  as  an  absurdity  for  a  captain  of  thirty  men, 
acting  under  a  commission  from  the  governor  of  Maryland,  to  claim 
precedence  of  the  commander-in-chief  of  all  the  Virginia  forces. 
The  governor,  now  beginning  to  vacillate  in  his  conduct  towards 
Washington,  and  not  wishing  to  risk  his  authority  in  deciding  a 
doubtful  question,  went  no  farther.  He  hinted  that  Washington 
might  arrest  Dagworthy,  but  evaded  giving  any  positive  order  on 
the  subject. 

The  conduct  of  Dinwiddie  only  increased  the  embarrassments 
of  Washington,  and  he  immediately  sent  a  forcible  remonstrance 
to  him  and  the  council,  informing  them  that  he  would  not  hold  his 
commission,  unless  this  difficulty  were  removed.  In  a  letter  to 
the  governor,  dated  5th  December,  1755,  he  says:  "I  never  can 
submit  to  the  command  of  Captain  Dagworthy,  since  you  have 
honoured  me  with  the  command  of  the  Virginia  regiment." 

In  order  to  put  an  end  to  the  difficulty,  Governor  Dinwiddie 
wrote  to  General  Shirley,  then  commander-in-chief  of  his  majesty's 
forces  in  North  America,  soliciting  brevet  commissions  for  Colonel 
Washington  and  the  officers  under  him.  This  solicitation  was  not 
answered  in  January,  1756,  when  Colonel  Washington  wrote  to 
the  governor: — "As  I  have  not  yet  heard  how  General  Shirley  has 
answered  your  request,  I  fear  for  the  success  of  it,  especially  as  it 
is  next  to  an  impossibility  (since  Governor  Sharpe*  has  been 
there  to  plead  Captain  Dagworthy's  cause)  to  make  the  general 

*  Of  Maryland. 


CAPTAIN    DAGWORTHY.  97 

acquainted  by  writing  with  the  nature  of  the  dispute.  The  officers 
have  drawn  up  a  memorial  to  be  presented  to  the  general,  and, 
that  it  may  be  properly  strengthened,  they  humbly  beg  your  soli 
citation  to  have  us  put  upon  the  establishment,  as  we  have  certain 
advices  that  it  is  in  his  power.  This  would,  at  once,  put  an  end 
to  the  contention,  which  is  the  root  of  evil,  and  destructive  to  the 
best  operations  ;  and  it  would  turn  all  our  movements  into  a  free 
and  easy  channel. 

"They  have  urged  it  to  me  in  the  warmest  manner,  to  appear 
personally  before  the  general,  for  that  end.  This  I  would  gladly 
do,  even  at  this  disagreeable  season,  if  I  had  your  permission  ; 
which  I  the  more  freely  ask,  since  I  am  determined  to  resign  a 
commission,  which  you  were  generously  pleased  to  offer  me,  and 
for  which  I  shall  always  retain  a  grateful  sense,  rather  than  submit 
to  the  command  of  a  person,  who  has  not  such  superlative  merit 
as  to  balance  the  inequality  of  rank.  However,  he  adheres  to 
what  he  calls  his  rights,  in  which  I  know  he  is  supported  by 
Governor  Sharpe.  He  says,  that  he  has  no  commission  from  the 
province  of  Maryland,  but  acts  by  virtue  of  that  from  the  king ; 
this  was  the  condition  of  his  engaging  in  the  Maryland  service ; 
and  that  when  he  was  sent  up  there,  the  first  of  last  October,  he 
was  ordered  by  Governor  Sharpe  and  Sir  John  St.  Clair  not  to 
give  up  his  right.  To  my  certain  knowledge  his  rank  was  dis 
puted  before  General  Braddock,  who  gave  it  in  his  favour ;  and 
he  accordingly  took  place  of  every  captain  upon  the  expedition, 
except  Captain  James  Mercer  and  Captain  Rutherford,  whose 
commissions  were  older  than  his  ;  so  that  I  should  not  by  any 
means  choose  to  act,  as  your  honour  hinted  in  your  last,  lest  I 
should  be  called  to  an  account  myself.* 

"I  have  during  my  stay  at  Winchester,  from  the  20th  of  De 
cember  to  this  time,  disposed  of  all  the  men  and  officers  that  are 
not  recruiting,  and  can  be  spared  from  the  fort,  in  the  best  manner 
I  could  for  the  defence  of  the  inhabitants,  and  they  will  need  no 
further  orders  till  I  could  return.  And  the  recruiting  officers  are 
allowed  till  the  first  of  March  to  repair  to  their  rendezvous,  which 
leaves  at  present  nothing  to  do  at  the  fort,  but  to  train  and  disci 
pline  the  men,  and  prepare  and  salt  the  provisions.  For  the 
better  perfecting  both  these,  I  have  left  full  and  clear  directions. 

"Besides,  in  other  respects,  I  think  my  going  to  the  northward 
might  be  of  service,  as  I  should  thereby  become  acquainted  with 

*  This  passage  relates  to  the  hint  cautiously  thrown  out  by  Dinwiddie,  that  Wash 
ington  might  safely  arrest  Dagworthy. 

13  I 


98  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

the  plan  of  operations,  so  far  as  it  may  be  thought  proper  to  be 
communicated." 

The  permission  thus  asked  was  granted,  and  Washington  com 
menced  a  journey  of  five  hundred  miles  on  the  4th  of  February, 
1756.  He,  accompanied  by  Captains  Mercer  and  Stewart,  tra 
velled  to  .Boston  on  horseback,  passing  through*  the  cities  of  Phila 
delphia,  New  York  and  New  London  on  the  route.  At  New  York 
he  was  politely  received  and  entertained  by  Mr.  Beverly  Robinson, 
at  whose  house  he  became  acquainted  with  Miss  Mary  Phillips,  a 
sister  of  Mrs.  Robinson,  a  young  lady  whose  rare  accomplishments 
made  a  deep  impression  on  his  heart.  He  arrived  in  Boston 
towards  the  end  of  February,  where  he  was  well  received  by 
General  Shirley,  who  made  him  acquainted  with  the  plan  of  opera 
tions  lately  agreed  on  by  a  council  of  governors  assembled  at 
New  York.  He  remained  in  Boston  ten  days,  when,  having 
accomplished  the  object  of  his  mission,  and  obtained  from  the 
general  his  order  in  writing  that  Dagworthy  should  be  subject  to 
his  command,  he  set  out  on  his  return.  It  is  worthy  of  remark, 
that  Washington  only  partially  succeeded  in  the  original  object 
for  which  he  set  out.  Had  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  for  him 
self  and  his  field-officers  a  commission  from  the  king  of  Great 
Britain,  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  what  would  have  been  its 
effect  on  the  future  destinies  of  the  provinces.  In  returning,  he 
again  stopped  at  New  York,  as  long  as  he  could  consistently  with 
his  duty,  and  it  was  with  some  reluctance,  that,  on  the  near 
approach  of  the  day  of  meeting  of  the  Virginia  Assembly,  he  tore 
himself  away ;  taking  care  to  intrust  his  secret  to  a  confidential 
friend  who  promised  to  keep  him  informed  of  every  thing  that 
happened  in  relation  to  the  lady  to  whom  he  had  become  attached. 
From  this  friend  he  soon  learned  that  his  old  companion  in  arms, 
Captain  Morris,  had  appeared  as  a  rival,  and  claimed  the  hand  of 
Miss  Phillips,  and  his  correspondent  further  said  that  it  was  im 
possible  to  divine  the  result  if  he  delayed  to  revisit  New  York  and 
press  his  suit.  This  information  found  Washington  busily  engaged 
in  his  public  duties,  and  even  an  affair  of  the  heart  was  not  enough 
to  make  him  neglect  his  duty  to  his  country.  The  lady  was  soon 
after  married  to  Captain  Morris>  and  it  is  supposed  that  Washing 
ton  never  saw  her  more.  He  arrived  at  Williamsburg  on  the  23d 
of  March,  having  been  absent  but  seven  weeks. 

The  Assembly  met  about  the  time  of  his  return,  and  determined 
on  another  defensive  campaign.  They  passed  an  act  increasing 
the  army  to  fifteen  hundred  men,  but  it  was  found  impossible, 


CORRESPONDENCE   WITH   THE   GOVERNOR.       99 

under  the  laws  then  in  force,  to  get  more  than  one  half  of  them 
into  service  at  any  one  time. 

While  Washington  was  at  Williamsburg,  an  express  arrived  with 
the  intelligence  that  the  enemy  had  recommenced  their  predatory 
incursions,  and  that  they  now  came  with  greater  assurance,  having 
committed  several  murders  within  a  short  distance  of  Winchester, 
and  spread  great  alarm  among  the  inhabitants  of  that  region. 
He  immediately  hastened  to  Winchester,  where  he  found  that  the 
French  and  Indians  were  so  emboldened  by  the  impunity  with 
which  they  had  hitherto  carried  on  their  operations,  that  they  hesi 
tated  not  to  attack  the  small  forts  in  the  day-time.  In  a  letter 
which  he  wrote  to  the  governor,  on  the  7th  of  April,  he  says  : — 
"However  absurd  it  may  appear,  it  is  nevertheless  certain,  that 
five  hundred  Indians  have  it  more  in  their  power  to  annoy  the 
inhabitants  than  ten  times  their  number  of  regulars.  Besides  the 
advantageous  way  they  have  of  fighting  in  the  woods,  their  cun 
ning  and  craft,  their  activity  and  patient  sufferings,  are  not  to  be 
equalled.  They  prowl  about  like  wolves,  and,  like  them,  do  their 
mischief  by  stealth.  They  depend  upon  their  dexterity  in  hunting 
and  upon  the  cattle  of  the  inhabitants  for  provisions." 

Colonel  Washington  had  always  represented  to  the  government 
of  the  province  that  the  only  way  to  prevent  the  incursions  of  the 
savages,  and  effectually  to  protect  their  extended  frontier,  was  to 
capture  Fort  Duquesne,  whence  they  obtained  aid  and  protection. 
But  the  colony  had  no  cannon,  and  they  thought  that  in  their  situ 
ation  it  was  enough  to  station  the  small  force  under  Washington 
along  the  frontier,  to  ward  off  the  blows  which  they  might  have  pre 
vented.  The  sufferings  to  which  these  errors  gave  rise  were  strongly 
and  pathetically  represented  to  the  governor  in  a  letter  to  him  from 
Washington,  under  the  date  of  Winchester,  22d  April,  1756. 

"Your  honour,"  he  says,  "may  see  to  what  unhappy  straits  the 
distressed  inhabitants  and  myself  are  reduced,  I  am  too  little 
acquainted,  sir,  with  pathetic  language  to  attempt  a  description 
of  the  people's  distresses,  though  I  have  a  generous  soul,  sensible 
of  wrongs,  and  swelling  for  redress.  But  what  can  I  do  ;  I  see 
their  situation,  know  their  danger,  and  participate  their  sufferings, 
without  having  it  in  my  power  to  give  them  further  relief  than 
uncertain  promises.  In  short,  I  see  inevitable  destruction  in  so 
clear  a  light,  that  unless  vigorous  measures  are  taken  by  the 
Assembly,  and  speedy  assistance  sent  from  below,  the  poor  inha 
bitants  that  are  now  in  forts  must  unavoidably  fall,  while  the 
remainder  are  flying  before  the  barbarous  foe.  In  fine,  the  melan- 


100  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

choly  situation  of  the  people,  the  little  prospect  of  assistance,  the 
gross  and  scandalous  abuses  cast  upon  the  officers  in  general, 
which  is  reflecting  upon  me  in  particular,  for  suffering  misconduct 
of  such  extraordinary  kinds,*  and  the  distant  prospect,  if  any,  of 
gaining  honour  and  reputation  in  the  service,  cause  me  to  lament 
the  hour  that  gave  me  a  commission,  and  would  induce  me,  at 
any  other  time  than  this  of  imminent  danger,  to  resign,  without 
one  hesitating  moment,  a  command  from  which  I  never  expect  to 
reap  either  honour  or  benefit ;  but  on  the  contrary,  have  almost  an 
absolute  certainty  of  incurring  displeasure  below,  while  the  murder 
of  helpless  families  may  be  laid  to  my  account  here ! 

"The  supplicating  tears  of  the  women,  and  moving  petitions  of 
the  men,  melt  me  into  such  deadly  sorrow,  that  I  solemnly  declare, 
if  I  know  my  own  mind,  I  could  offer  myself  a  willing  sacrifice  to 
the  butchering  enemy,  provided  that  would  contribute  to  the 
people's  ease." 

Two  days  afterwards  he  again  addressed  the  governor  in  the 
same  strain  of  humanity  and  sympathy  with  the  distressed  people. 
"Not  an  hour,"  he  says,  "nay  scarcely  a  minute  passes,  that  does 
not  produce  fresh  alarms  and  melancholy  accounts.  Nor  is  it  pos 
sible  to  give  the  people  the  necessary  assistance  for  their  defence, 
on  account  of  the  small  number  of  men  we  have,  or  that  are  likely 
to  be  here  for  some  time.  The  inhabitants  are  removing  daily, 
and  in  a  short  time  will  leave  this  country  as  desolate  as  Hamp 
shire,  where  scarce  a  family  lives. 

"Three  families  were  murdered  the  night  before  last,  at  the  dis 
tance  of  less  than  twelve  miles  from  this  place  ;  and  every  day  we 
have  accounts  of  such  cruelties  and  barbarities  as  are  shocking 
to  human  nature.  It  is  not  possible  to  conceive  the  situation  and 
danger  of  this  miserable  country.  Such  numbers  of  French  and 
Indians  are  all  around,  that  no  road  is  safe  ;  and  here  we  know 
not  the  hour  we  may  be  attacked." 

But  the  fullest  statement  of  the  disadvantage  under  which  he 
laboured,  is  to  be  found  in  his  memorial  to  Lord  Loudoun,  who 
had  been  appointed  commander-in-chief  of  the  North  American 

*  This  relates  to  certain  false  reports  which  the  governor  received  of  the  immorality 
of  the  Virginia  regiment,  their  habits  of  gaming,  drinking,  swearing,  and  such  repre 
hensible  irregularities.  These  reports  were  spread  by  certain  Jjjjcptchmen,  \vlio  from 

•iitlv  influ< 


interested  motives  poisoned  the  mind  of  the  governor,  and  greatly  influenced  him  m 
withholding  the  aid  which  was  so  necessary  for  the  army.  Washington  firmly  but 
modestly  repelled  these  charges,  calling  for  the  names  of  his  accusers.  The  governor 
denied  that  any  accusations  were  made  against  him ;  but  the  breach,  which  had  for 
some  time  been  opening  between  them,  continued  to  grow  wider  and  wider  while 
Dinwiddie  remained  in  Virginia. 


LETTER    TO    LORD    LOUDOUN. 


101 


|nj]  forces,  and  which  bears 
.[Z,  date  Fort  Loudoun,  Feb 
ruary,  1757.  In  this  com 
munication  he  strikingly 
shows  the  absurdity  of  ex 
pecting  him  to  defend  a 
frontier  of  three  hundred 
miles  with  fifteen  hundred 
men.  He  details  the  most 
convincing  reasons  for 
adopting  aggressive  ope 
rations,  more  particularly 
upon  the  stronghold  of  the 
enemy,  Fort  Duquesne.  He 
complains  loudly  of  the 
utter  insufficiency  and  folly 
of  existing  military  regulations,  of  the  incompetency  of  the  sol 
diers'  pay,  and  the  want  of  punctuality  in  remitting  it,  and  of  any 
provision  for  those  wrho  might  be  wounded  or  disabled  in  the 
service.  He  depicts  the  uselessness  of  the  militia,  the  indifference 
of  the  people  at  large,  and  finally  crowns  the  catalogue  of  his 
complaints  with  some  of  a  personal  kind. 

"And  now,  before  I  conclude,  I  must  beg  leave  to  add  that 
my  unwearied  endeavours  are  inadequately  rewarded.  The  orders 
I  receive  are  full  of  ambiguity.  I  am  left,  like  a  wanderer  in  the 
wilderness,  to  proceed  at  hazard.  I  am  answerable  for  conse 
quences,  and  blamed  without  the  privilege  of  defence.  This,  my 
Lord,  I  beg  leave  to  declare,  is  at  present  my  situation.  There 
fore,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  if,  under  such  peculiar  circum 
stances,  I  should  be  sick  of  a  service  which  promises  so  little  of  a 
soldier's  reward.  I  have  long  been  satisfied  of  the  impossibility 
of  continuing  in  this  service,  without  loss  of  honour.  Indeed, 
I  was  fully  convinced  of  it  before  I  accepted  the  command  the 
second  time,  seeing  the  cloudy  prospect  before  me  ;  and  I  did,  for 
this  reason,  reject  the  offer  until  I  was  ashamed  any  longer  to 
refuse,  not  caring  to  expose  my  character  to  public  censure.  The 
solicitations  of  the  country  overcame  my  objections,  and  induced 
me  to  accept  it." 

The  attention  of  Lord  Loudoun,  however,  was  so  much  directed 
to  the  north,  that  he  could  pay  but  little  regard  to  the  affairs  of  the 
middle  and  southern  provinces.  The  result  of  this  state  of  things 
was,  that  until  1758,  all  the  remonstrances  of  Colonel  Washington 


102  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

were  disregarded  ;  and  the  history  of  the  war  during  that  period 
is  the  history  of  continual  and  successful  irruptions  made  by  the 
French  and  Indians  across  the  least  defended  parts  of  the  frontier ; 
in  which  they  massacred  all  the  inhabitants  without  regard  to  age 
or  sex,  burned  and  destroyed  such  property  as  they  could  not 
remove,  and  returned  across  the  mountains  almost  with  impunity, 
loaded  with  spoil  and  sated  with  slaughter. 

Towards  the  close  of  1757,  Washington,  under  a  severe  attack 
of  dysentery  and  fever,  was  reduced  so  low  that  he  was  obliged 
to  retire  to  Mount  Vernon,  and  it  was  not  till  about  the  1st  of 
April  that  he  was  able  to  resume  his  command  at  Fort  Loudoun. 
In  the  mean  time  Governor  Dinwiddie  returned  to  England,  and 
Lord  Loudoun  was  superseded  in  the  supreme  command  by 
Major-general  Abercrombie ;  who,  to  the  inexpressible  joy  of 
Washington,  determined  to  attempt  the  reduction  of  Fort  Du- 
quesne,  and  while  he  carried  on  the  operations  in  the  North, 
intrusted  the  defence  of  the  Middle  and  Southern  colonies  to 
Brigadier-general  Forbes. 

The  forces  of  Virginia  were  increased  to  two  regiments  of  about 
eight  hundred  men  each.  Besides  these,  the  troops  under  the 
command  of  General  Forbes  consisted  of  twelve  hundred  High 
landers,  three  hundred  and  fifty  Royal  Americans,  about  two 
thousand  seven  hundred  provincials  from  Pennsylvania,  and  two 
or  three  hundred  from  Maryland  ;  making  in  all  over  six  thousand 
men.  Part  of  this  force  was  at  Philadelphia,  part  at  Raystown, 
and  part  dispersed  over  the  frontiers  of  Virginia.  Though  WTash- 
ington  urged  the  necessity  of  an  early  campaign,  he  did  not  receive 
orders  to  assemble  his  regiment  at  Winchester,  till  the  24th  of 
May  ;  nor  to  march  to  Fort  Cumberland,  till  the  24th  of  June  ; 
nor  to  join  the  main  body  at  Raystown  till  the  21st  of  September. 
To  Washington,  who  knew  the  value  of  time  thus  lost,  these  delays 
were  exceedingly  vexatious.  As  if  studiously  seeking  delay, 
General  Forbes,  instead  of  marching  by  Braddock's  road,  which 
was  open  to  within  seven  or  eight  miles  of  the  fort,  he  determined 
to  cut  a  new  road  through  the  wilderness  from  Raystown.  Wash 
ington  urgently  and  repeatedly  remonstrated  against  this  waste  of 
precious  time  and  labour,  but  to  no  effect.  His  superiors  in 
command  determined  on  making  the  new  road,  and  Washington 
quietly  submitted.  He  was  put  in  command  of  the  advanced 
division,  and  was  ordered  to  act  in  concert  with  Colonel  Bouquet 
in  opening  the  new  route. 

General  Forbes  arrived  at  Loyal  Hanna  on  the  5th  of  November, 


RESIGNATION    OF    WASHINGTON.  103 

~T 


OLD     BLOCK-HOUSE     AT     FORT     DtJQUESNE. 

and  calling  a  council  of  war,  it  was  resolved,  on  account  of  the 
lateness  of  the  season,  to  abandon  the  attempt  on  Duquesne  for  that 
campaign.  Some  prisoners  being  soon  afterwards  brought  in,  gave 
such  an  account  of  the  weakness  of  the  garrison,  that  the  resolution 
was  reconsidered,  and  the  general  determined  to  push  forward  at 
all  hazards.  At  length,  after  the  greatest  labour  and  difficulty,  they 
reached  Fort  Duquesne  on  the  25th  of  November,  which,  to  their 
great  surprise,  they  found  evacuated,  the  enemy  having  set  fire  to 
the  buildings  the  preceding  evening,  and  closed  the  war  by 
retreating  down  the  Ohio  in  boats.  The  neighbouring  tribes  of 
Indians  now  deserted  their  ancient  allies  and  joined  the  English. 
The  name  of  the  fort  was  changed  to  Fort  Pitt,  and  being  re 
paired,  it  was  garrisoned  by  two  hundred  men.  Thus  Washington 
had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  object  of  his  wishes  and  efforts 
accomplished.  His  health  being  seriously  impaired  by  the  arduous 
service  he  had  performed,  and  his  domestic  affairs  needing  his 
attention,  he  resigned  his  commission,  and  retired  again  to  do 
mestic  life  at  Mount  Vernon.  Perhaps  the  clearest  view  of  the 
character  which  he  left  behind  him,  and  of  the  feelings  with  which 
the  army  suffered  the  loss  of  his  services,  may  be  obtained  from 
the  following  address,  presented  to  him  by  the  officers  on  his 
resigning  the  command.  Though  inferior  as  a  literary  composi 
tion,  it  evinces  those  warm  sentiments  of  admiration  and  love  for 
Washington  which  were  shared  with  them  by  the  great  majority 


104  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

of  his  countrymen.  The  address  is  as  follows :  "Sir,  we  your 
most  obedient  and  affectionate  officers,  beg  leave  to  express  our 
great  concern,  at  the  disagreeable  news  we  have  received  of  your 
determination  to  resign  the  command  of  that  corps  in  which  we 
have  so  long  under  you  served.  The  happiness.we  have  enjoyed, 
and  the  honour  we  have  acquired,  together  with  the  mutual  regard 
which  has  always  subsisted  between  you  and  your  officers,  have 
implanted  so  sensible  an  affection  in  the  minds  of  us  all,  that  we 
cannot  be  silent  on  this  critical  occasion. 

"In  our  earliest  infancy  you  took  us  under  your  tuition,  trained 
us  up  in  the  practice  of  that  discipline,  which  alone  can  constitute 
good  troops,  from  the  punctual  observation  of  which  you  never 
suffered  the  least  deviation. 

"Your  steady  adherence  to  impartial  justice,  your  quick  dis 
cernment,  and  invariable  regard  to  merit,  wisely  intended  to 
inculcate  those  genuine  sentiments  of  true  honour  and  passion  for 
glory,  from  which  the  greatest  military  achievements  have  been 
derived,  first  heightened  our  natural  emulation  and  our  desire  to 
excel.  How  much  we  improved  by  those  regulations  and  our 
own  example,  with  what  alacrity  we  have  hitherto  discharged  our 
duty,  with  what  cheerfulness  we  have  encountered  the  severest 
toil,  especially  while  under  your  particular  directions,  we  submit 
to  yourself,  and  flatter  ourselves  that  we  have  in  a  great  measure 
answered  your  expectations. 

"Judge,  then,  how  sensibly  we  must  be  affected  with  the  loss 
of  such  an  excellent  commander,  such  a  sincere  friend  and  so 
affable  a  companion.  How  rare  it  is  to  find  those  amiable  quali 
fications  blended  together  in  one  man !  How  great  the  loss  of 
such  a  man!  Adieu  to  that  superiority  which  the  enemy  have 
granted  us  over  other  troops,  and  which  even  the  regulars  and 
provincials  have  done  us  the  honour  publicly  to  acknowledge ! 
Adieu  to  that  strict  discipline  and  order  which  you  have  always 
maintained  !  Adieu  to  that  happy  union  and  harmony,  which 
have  been  our  principal  cement !  It  gives  us  additional  sorrow, 
when  we  reflect,  to  find  our  unhappy  country  will  receive  a  loss 
no  less  irreparable  than  our  own.  Where  will  it  meet  a  man  so 
experienced  in  military  affairs — one  so  renowned  for  patriotism, 
conduct,  and  courage  ?  Who  has  so  great  a  knowledge  of  the 
enemy  we  have  to  deal  with  ? — who  so  well  acquainted  with  their 
situation  and  strength? — who  so  much  respected  by  the  soldiery?— 
who,  in  short,  so  able  to  support  the  military  character  of  Vir 
ginia  ? 


ADDRESS    OF    HIS    OFFICERS.  105 

« Your  approved  love  to  your  king  and  country,  and  your 
uncommon  perseverance  in  promoting  the  honour  and  true  interest 
of  the  service,  convince  us  that  the  most  cogent  reasons  only 
could  induce  you  to  quit  it ;  yet  we,  with  the  greatest  deference, 
presume  to  entreat  you  to  suspend  those  thoughts  for  another 
year,  and  to  lead  us  on  to  assist  in  the  glorious  work  of  extirpat 
ing  our  enemies,  towards  which  so  considerable  advances  have 
been  already  made.  In  you,  we  place  the  most  implicit  confi 
dence.  Your  presence  only  will  cause  a  steady  firmness  and 
vigor  to  actuate  in  every  breast,  despising  the  greatest  dangers 
and  thinking  light  of  toils  and  hardships,  while  led  on  by  the 
man  we  know  and  love. 

"But  if  we  must  be  so  unhappy  as  to  part,  if  the  exigencies  of 
your  affairs  force  you  to  abandon  us,  wre  beg  it  as  our  last  request 
that  you  will  recommend  some  person  most  capable  to  command, 
whose  military  knowledge,  whose  honour,  whose  conduct,  and 
whose  disinterested  principles  we  may  depend  upon. 

"Frankness,  sincerity,  and  a  certain  openness  of  soul,  are  the 
true  characteristics  of  an  officer,  and  we  flatter  ourselves  that  you 
do  not  think  us  capable  of  saying  any  thing  contrary  to  the  purest 
dictates  of  our  minds.  Fully  persuaded  of  this,  we  beg  leave  to 
assure  you,  that,  as  you  have  hitherto  been  the  actuating  soul  of 
our  whole  corps,  we  shall  at  all  times  pay  the  most  invariable 
regard  to  your  will  and  pleasure,  and  will  always  be  happy  to 
demonstrate  by  our  actions  with  how  much  respect  and  esteem 
we  are,  &c." 

Thus  had  Washington,  in  his  twenty-sixth  year,  secured  for 
himself  the  love  and  esteem  of  all  who  knew  him.  He  was  the 
boast  of  Virginia ;  and  his  name  was  blessed  in  all  her  families 
and  settlements  as  the  saviour  of  her  land  from  pillage,  her  pro 
perty  from  destruction,  and  her  sons  and  daughters  from  the  bloody 
war-knife  of  the  savage. 

The  same  high  opinion  of  his  character  and  merits  had  been 
adopted  by  the  British  officers  with  whom  he  had  come  in  contact. 
"  The  duties  he  performed,  though  not  splendid,  were  arduous  ; 
and  were  executed  with  zeal,  and  with  judgment.  The  exact 
discipline  he  established  in  his  regiment,  when  the  temper  of  Vir 
ginia  was  extremely  hostile  to  discipline,  does  credit  to  his  mili 
tary  character ;  and  the  gallantry  the  troops  displayed,  whenever 
tailed  into  action,  manifests  the  spirit  infused  into  them  by  their 
commander. 

"The  difficulties  of  his  situation,  while  unable  to  cover  the  fron- 
14 


106 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


tier  from  the  French  and  Indians  who  were  spreading  death  and 
desolation  in  every  quarter,  were  incalculably  great;  and  no  better 
evidence  of  his  exertions  under  these  distressing  circumstances 
can  be  given,  than  the  undiminished  confidence  still  placed  in 
him,  by  those  whom  he  was  unable  to  protect. 

"The  efforts  to  which  he  incessantly  stimulafed  his  country  for 
the  purpose  of  obtaining  possession  of  the  Ohio  ;  the  system  for 
the  conduct  of  the  war  which  he  continually  recommended  ;  the 
vigorous  and  active  measures  always  urged  on  those  by  whom  he 
was  commanded  ;  manifested  an  ardent  and  enterprising  mind 
tempered  by  judgment,  and  quickly  improved  by  experience."* 

*  Marshall. 


BRITISH     INTANTBT.          TI-ME     OF     GEORG3     II. 


OPERATIONS    OF    MONTCALM. 


107 


CHAPTER  VII. 


of 


HILE  the  gigantic  efforts  and 
slow  movements  of  the  English 
in  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania 
were  accomplishing  the  expul 
sion  of  five  hundred  men  from 
the  wilderness  fortress  of  Du- 
quesne,  the  same  policy,  on  a 
proportionate  scale,  was  pursued 
against  the  stronger  French 
posts  in  Canada.  In  the  coun 
cil  of  governors,  already  men 
tioned  as  having  been  held  at 

New  York,  in  1756,  three  expeditions  were  planned,  in  which 
twenty-one  thousand  men  were  to  be  employed  against  Crown 
Point,  Niagara,  and  Fort  Duquesne.  The  operations  of  Generals 
Abercrombie  and  Loudoun,  who  arrived  successively  as  com- 
rnanders-in-chief,  were  retarded  by  their  own  want  of  energy, 
and  disputes  with  the  provincial  officers  concerning  rank.  While 
the  British  were  deliberating  on  the  best  mode  of  opening  the 
campaign,  the  Marquis  de  Montcalm,  an  officer  of  high  spirit,  who 
and  succeeded  Baron  Dieskau  in  the  chief  command  of  the  French 


108  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

forces  in  Canada,  suddenly  disconcerted  all  their  plans  by  com 
mencing  offensive  operations. 

He  made  a  rapid  march  at  the  head  of  five  thousand  men  to 
Lake  Ontario,  and  invested  one  of  the  forts  occupied  by  the 
British  at  Oswego.  He  began  the  siege  on  the  10th  of  August. 
The  scanty  supply  of  ammunition  possessed  by  the  besieged  was 
soon  exhausted,  when  Colonel  Mercer,  the  commandant,  spiked 
his  guns,  and  carried  his  troops  without  the  loss  of  a  man  to 
the  other  fort.  Montcalm  immediately  opened  a  heavy  fire  upon 
the  remaining  fort,  and  the  brave  Mercer  having  been  killed  by  a 
cannon-ball,  the  garrison,  dismayed  by  his  loss,  demanded  a 
capitulation,  and  surrendered  themselves,  to  the  number  of  four 
teen  hundred,  prisoners  of  war.  By  the  surrender  of  the  fort  at 
Oswego,  the  French  obtained  possession  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-one  cannon,  fourteen  mortars,  a  great  quantity  of  military 
stores  and  provisions,  as  well  as  several  sloops  and  boats. 

In  consequence  of  this  disastrous  event,  the  British  abandoned 
all  their  plans  of  offensive  operations,  and  confined  their  attention 
to  the  strengthening  of  the  posts  which  still  remained  to  them  on 
the  Northern  and  Western  frontiers.  In  1757,  Montcalm,  always 
watchful  and  active,  took  advantage  of  a  blunder  made  by  Lord 
Loudoun.  That  nobleman  withdrew  his  main  army  to  Halifax, 
with  the  intention  of  attempting  the  reduction  of  Louisburg.  No 
sooner  was  this  movement  known  to  the  French  general  than  he 
marched  with  nine  thousand  men,  and  in  the  beginning  of  August 
laid  siege  to  Fort  William  Henry,  which  was  garrisoned  by  three 
thousand  men  under  Colonel  Monroe.  Montcalm  pressed  the 
siege  with  such  vigour  and  skill,  that  he  compelled  the  garrison 
to  surrender  on  capitulation  in  six  days.  The  defenders  stipu 
lated  that  they  should  be  allowed  to  march  out  of  the  fort  with  the 
honours  of  war,  and  be  escorted  to  Fort  Edward  by  French 
troops,  as  a  security  against  the  savages.  These  terms,  however, 
were  violated  by  the  Indians  ;  for  no  sooner  had  the  British  laid 
down  their  arms,  than  they  began  to  strip  them  of  their 
clothing,  killing  and  scalping  whoever  made  the  slightest  resist 
ance.  Scarcely  one  half  of  the  garrison  of  Fort  William  Henry 
reached  Fort  Edward,  and  they  arrived  in  small  squads  and  in 
the  most  miserable  condition.  The  neglect  of  Montcalm,  on  this 
dreadful  occasion,  kindled  through  the  colonies  a  deep  thirst  for 
vengeance  ;  and  such  was  the  number  of  determined  volunteers 
that  began  to  arm  in  the  New  England  colonies,  and  pour  into 
Fort  Edward,  and  the  exposed  strongholds  in  the  neighbourhood, 


TAKING    OF   LOUISBURG   AND    QUEBEC. 


109 


that  the  French  thought 
it  inexpedient  to  pursue 
their  victory  farther  dur 
ing  that  year. 

This  massacre,  mani 
festing  the  insensibility 
of  the  French  to  the  bar 
barous  conduct  of  their 
Indian  allies,  may  be 
considered  as  the  pivot  on 
which  the  fortunes  of  the 
war  turned.  Hitherto, 
it  had  been  an  almost 
uninterrupted  series  of 
disasters  and  disgrace  to 
the  British  arms.  In 
Europe  similar  results  followed  the  feeble  measures  of  the  cabinet. 
But  the  spirit  of  the  nation  being  now  aroused,  forced  into  power 
William  Pitt,  afterwards  Earl  of  Chatham,  the  most  able  and 
accomplished  statesman  that  Britain  had  yet  produced.  Disap 
proving  military  operations  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  he  turned 
his  main  attention  to  the  North  American  colonies,  and  by  vigor 
ously  announcing  his  resolution  of  speedily  bringing  the  war  to  a 
successful  termination,  drew  from  them  the  most  powerful  aid. 
Lord  Loudoun  was  recalled,  and  superseded  by  General  Amherst, 
a  more  able  commander ;  while  a  subordinate  command  was 
assigned  to  General  Wolfe,  a  young  officer  in  whom  the  discerning- 
eye  of  Pitt  discovered  a  rising  military  genius. 

In  the  campaign  of  1758,  three  expeditions  were  again  deter 
mined  on ;  the  first  against  Louisburg,  under  the  command  of 
Generals  Amherst  and  Wolfe,  aided  by  the  fleet  under  Admiral 
Boscawen ;  the  second  against  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point, 
under  the  command  of  General  Abercrombie ;  and  the  third 
against  Fort  Duquesne,  under  General  Forbes. 

We  have  already  witnessed  the  success  of  the  last  of  these, 
in  which  Washington  was  personally  engaged. 

General  Abercrombie,  at  the  head  of  sixteen  thousand  men, 
marched  towards  Ticonderoga.  On  the  road  he  fell  in  with  a 
detachment  of  the  enemy,  who  attacked  Abercrombie,  and  by 
their  first  fire  killed  Lord  Howe,  a  young  officer  of  high  promise, 
and  much  beloved  in  America.  The  superior  numbers  of  the 
British,  however,  bore  down  all  opposition,  and  defeating  their 

K 


110  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

opponents,  they  proceeded  onward  to  Ticonderoga.  The  British 
commander,  hearing  that  the  French  were  inconsiderable  in  num 
ber,  but  that  they  were  daily  expecting  large  reinforcements,  made 
a  premature  attack  on  the  fort  and  was  repulsed  with  considerable 
loss,  when,  notwithstanding  the  remonstrances  of  his  officers,  he 
raised  the  siege  and  precipitately  retreated.  Cfolonel  Bradstreet, 
a  provincial  officer  distinguished  for  his  valour,  intelligence,  and 
activity,  unwilling  to  participate  in  the  disgrace  of  his  commander, 
solicited  his  permission  with  a  few  men,  to  make  an  attempt  on 
Port  Frontignac,  a  post  of  some  consequence  on  Lake  Ontario. 
Bradstreet  succeeded  in  his  enterprise.  He  laid  siege  to  the  fort 
on  the  25th  of  August,  and  compelled  the  garrison  to  surrender 
at  discretion  on  the  27th.  He  destroyed  the  fort,  and  nine  armed 
vessels  lying  in  the  harbour,  and  such  of  the  stores  as  he  could 
not  carry  away. 

The  formidable  expedition  against  Louisburg,  succeeded  chiefly 
through  the  exertions  of  the  gallant  Wolfe,  and  it  was  surrendered 
to  the  fleet  and  army  of  Great  Britain  towards  the  end  of  July. 

Uninterrupted  success  henceforward  attended  the  British  arms 
during  the  remainder  of  the  French  war.  In  1759,  General  Am- 
herst  marched  against  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point,  which  were 
evacuated  on  his  approach. 

General  Prideaux,  meantime,  with  a  strong  detachment  ad 
vanced  and  laid  siege  to  Fort  Niagara.  He  was  accidentally 
killed  by  the  bursting  of  a  cohorn ;  but  Sir  William  Johnson,  his 
successor,  pushing  operations  with  increased  vigour,  completely 
defeated  a  large  force  which  had  been  collected  against  him, 
added  new  laurels  to  those  already  won  by  him,  and  finally  obliged 
the  garrison  to  surrender.  He  conveyed  them  in  safety  as  pri 
soners  of  war  to  New  York. 

But  the  most  brilliant  action  of  the  whole  war  was  the  capture 
of  Quebec  by  General  Wolfe.  He  embarked  at  Louisburg  with 
an  army  of  eight  thousand  men,  and,  towards  the  end  of  June, 
landed  on  the  Isle  of  Orleans,  and  immediately  commenced  opera 
tions  against  the  city.  Quebec  was  principally  built  on  a  steep 
rock  on  the  northern  bank  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  while  the  river 
St.  Charles,  which  flowed  past  it  on  the  east,  and  united  with  the 
St.  Lawrence  immediately  below  the  town,  defended  it  on  that 
side,  and  gave  it  the  security  of  a  peninsular  locality.  There  was 
a  boom  thrown  across  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Charles,  immediately 
within  which  the  French  fleet  was  moored.  A  formidable  French 
army,  commanded  by  the  experienced  Montcalm,  was  strongly 


TAKING    OF    QUEBEC.  HI 

intrenched  on  the  eastern  side  of  this  river,  their  encampment 
extending  along  the  shore  to  the  falls  of  the  Montmorency,  while 
their  rear  was  defended  by  an  impenetrable  forest.  With  a  force 
far  inferior  in  numbers  to  the  enemy,  Wolfe  laid  vigorous  siege  to 
the  place,  secure  of  the  means  of  retreat  while  the  British  fleet 
remained  in  the  river. 

Perceiving  that  he  could  effect  but  little  at  the  Isle  of  Orleans, 
General  Wolfe,  after  a  successful  skirmish,  took  posession  of  Point 
Levi,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  there  erected 
batteries  to  annoy  the  town.  This  position  was,  however,  at  too  great 
a  distance  to  make  any  useful  impression  on  the  enemy's  works, 
and  feeling  that  the  season  for  active  operations  was  fast  flying,  and 
his  own  bodily  strength  diminishing,  he  determined  to  make  use 
of  every  expedient  to  entice  Montcalm  from  his  defences.  He 
accordingly  planned  an  attack  upon  a  redoubt  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Montmorency;  but  the  garrison,  instead  of  offering  resistance, 
retreated  towards  the  encampment,  while  the  French  opening  a 
tremendous  fire  upon  his  forces,  he  thought  it  best  to  retreat,  with 
the  loss  of  nearly  five  hundred  men  killed  or  wounded. 

Finding  it  impossible  to  approach  the  city  on  its  eastern  side, 
Wolfe  now  turned  his  eyes  to  the  apparently  inaccessible  cliffs 
above,  and  which,  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  ascending  them, 
were  but  feebly  defended.  He  assembled  a  council  of  his  prin 
cipal  officers,  and  it  was  resolved  to  make  an  attempt  to  gain  the 
heights  of  Abraham,  a  lofty  plain  just  above  Quebec.  "It  was 
proposed  to  land  the  troops  by  night,  at  the  foot  of  the  rocks,  a 
small  distance  above  the  city,  and  to  climb  to  the  summit  before 
daybreak.  This  attempt  manifestly  involved  extreme  difficulty 
and  hazard.  The  stream  was  rapid,  the  shore  shelving,  the  bank 
of  the  river  lined  with  French  sentinels,  the  landing-place  so  nar 
row  as  easily  to  be  missed  in  the  dark,  and  the  cliff  which  must 
afterwards  be  surmounted  so  steep  that  it  was  difficult  to  ascend 
it  even  in  open  day  and  without  opposition.  Should  the  design 
be  promulgated  by  a  spy  or  deserter,  or  suspected  by  the  enemy; 
should  the  disembarkation  be  disordered,  through  the  darkness  of 
the  night  or  the  obstructions  of  the  shore  ;  the  landing-place  be 
mistaken,  or  but  one  sentinel  alarmed, — the  Heights  of  Abraham 
would  instantly  be  covered  with  such  numbers  of  troops  as  would 
render  the  attempt  abortive  and  defeat  inevitable.  Though  these 
circumstances  of  danger  could  not  escape  the  penetration  of 
Wolfe,  yet  he  hesitated  not  a  moment  to  embrace  a  project  so 
congenial  to  his  ardent  and  enterprising  disposition,  as  well  as  to 


112 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


GENERAL      TOWNSHEND. 


the  hazardous  and  embar 
rassing  predicament  in 
which  he  was  placed,  and 
from  which  only  some 
brilliant  and  soaring  effort 
could  extricate  him  to  his 
own  and  his  country's 
satisfaction.  He  reposed 
a  gallant  confidence  in 
the  very  magnitude  and 
peril  of  his  attempt,  and 
fortune  extended  her  pro 
verbial  favour  to  the  brave. 
His  active  powers  revived 
with  the  near  prospect  of 
decisive  action ;  he  soon 
recovered  his  health,  so  far 
as  to  be  able  to  conduct  the  enterprise  on  which  he  was  resolved 
to  stake  his  fame  ;  and  in  the  execution  of  it,  displayed  a  force  of 
judgment,  and  a  deliberate  valour  and  intrepidity  that  rivalled  and 
vindicated  the  heroism  of  its  conception.* 

On  the  night  of  the  12th  of  September,  the  attempt  to  land  was 
successfully  made,  and  by  daybreak,  on  the  13th,  the  whole  army 
was  arrayed  on  the  summit  of  the  Heights  of  Abraham.  Mont- 
calm,  though  astonished  at  the  temerity  and  boldness  of  the  British, 
instantly  quitted  his  encampment,  crossed  the  St.  Charles,  and  the 
two  armies  were  drawn  up  in  battle  array  opposite  to  each  other. 
About  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  action  was  commenced,  by 
the  French  advancing  vigorously  to  the  charge,  and  in  a  few 
moments  the  conflict  became  general  along  the  whole  line.  Wolfe 
having  been  wounded  in  the  wrist  and  in  the  groin,  continued  to 
lead  on  his  troops  without  manifesting  any  signs  of  pain,  until  a 
third  bullet  pierced  his  breast,  and  he  fell  mortally  wounded. 
General  Monckton,  who  succeeded  to  the  command,  was  soon 
obliged  by  a  dangerous  wound  to  resign  the  command  to  General 
Townshend.  Montcalm  was  about  the  same  time  mortally  wounded, 
and  the  second  in  command,  General  Senezergus,  also  fell.  The 
loss  of  their  general  only  incited  the  English  to  fresh  acts  of  the 
most  daring  heroism,  while  the  death  of  Montcalm  seemed  to 
produce  a  contrary  effect  upon  the  French ;  who  soon  began  to 
retreat  on  all  sides.  A  thousand  of  the  enemy  were  killed  in  the 

*  Grahame's  Colonial  History. 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  FRENCH  FROM  CANADA.     113 

battle  and  pursuit,  and  about  the  same  number  captured ;  the 
remainder  of  the  army  fled,  some  to  Quebec,  and  others  to  Trois 
Rivieres  and  Montreal.  The  English  lost,  in  killed  and  wounded, 
less  than  six  hundred  men. 

On  the  17th  of  September,  five  days  after  the  battle,  the  city  of 
Quebec,  the  capital  of  New  France,  was  surrendered  to  the  Eng 
lish,  and  garrisoned  by  five  thousand  men  under  General  Murray. 

Quebec  was  in  great  danger  of  being  retaken  during  the  winter, 
but  was  saved  by  the  good  conduct  of  General  Murray.  In  the 
summer  of  1760,  he  concerted  with  General  Amherst  a  combined 
attack  upon  Montreal,  which  was  still  held  for  France,  by  the 
Marquis  de  Vandreuil.  The  march  of  the  two  armies  was  planned 
with  such  precision  that  they  both,  by  different  routes,  arrived 
before  Montreal  on  the  same  day.  The  French  general,  perceiving 
from  the  skilful  movements  and  superior  numbers  of  the  British 
armies  that  resistance  would  be  ineffectual,  demanded  a  capitula 
tion,  and  on  the  8th  of  September,  1760,  he  surrendered  Montreal 
and  all  Canada  to  the  British ;  which  was  finally  secured  to  them 
by  the  treaty  of  Paris,  concluded  February  10,  1763.  Thus 
ended  the  colonial  empire  of  France  in  North  America ;  for  though 
she  still  possessed  the  infant  colony  of  Louisiana  and  the  growing 
town  of  NewT  Orleans,  yet  this  settlement  was  so  thinly  peopled, 
and  possessed  such  meagre  resources,  that  had  it  not  been  for  the 
supplies  of  provisions  which  it  received  from  the  British  colonies, 
it  could  scarcely  have  maintained  itself  for  a  year. 


i« 


114 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


PARISH     CHURCH     OF     WASHINGTON     AT     ALEXANDRIA. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 


0-1  S8Ka*S)ftigton. 


HE  marriage  of  Washington  took  place 
in  1759.  It  was  in  the  month  of  May, 
1758,  that  he  undertook  a  journey  from 
Fort  Loudoun  to  Williamsburg,  in  the 
course  of  which  he  first  became  ac 
quainted  with  Mrs.  Custis,  his  future 
wife.  The  Virginia  regiment  being  in 
want  of  many  of  the  necessary  munitions 
of  war,  and  the  Assembly  not  seeming  to 
heed  the  representations  of  the  com 
manding  officers,  Sir  John  St.  Clair,  the 
quarter-master  of  the  army  under  Gene 
ral  Forbes,  thought  it  expedient  to  de 
spatch  Colonel  Washington,  to  represent 
to  the  president  of  the  council,  then  acting  as  governor,  the  pos 
ture  of  affairs  at  Winchester,  and  to  obviate,  by  personal  explana 
tion,  any  doubts  that  might  arise  from  the  best  written  narrative  ; 
with  instructions  to  urge  upon  the  council  and  Assembly  the  ne 
cessity  of  putting  the  Virginia  troops  in  a  fit  condition  to  proceed 
and  aid  in  the  capture  of  Fort  Duquesne.  Washington's  first 


Jffl 


FIRST    INTERVIEW    WITH    MRS.    CUSTIS.       115 

interview  with  Mrs.  Custis,  as  well  as  her  character  during  the 
remainder  of  her  life,  is  thus  truly  and  beautifully  described  by 
Mrs.  Sigourney : — 

It  was  in  the  spring  of  1758,  that  two  gentlemen,  attended  by 
a  servant,  were  seen  riding  through  the  luxuriant  scenery  with 
which  the  county  of  New  Kent,  in  Virginia,  abounds.  The  most 
striking  figure  of  the  group  was  tall,  graceful,  and  commanding, 
in  a  rich  military  undress,  and  apparently  twenty-five  or  twenty- 
six  years  of  age.  He  would  have  been  held  a  model  for  the 
statuary  when  Rome  was  in  her  best  days.  His  companion  was 
an  elderly  man,  in  a  plain  garb,  who,  by  the  familiarity  with  which 
he  pointed  out  surrounding  objects,  would  seem  to  be  taking  his 
daily  round  upon  his  own  estate.  As  they  approached  the  avenue 
to  an  antique  mansion,  he  placed  his  hand  upon  the  rein  of  his 
companion : 

"Nay,  Colonel  Washington,  let  it  never  be  said  that  you  passed 
the  house  of  your  father's  friend  without  dismounting.  I  must 
insist  on  the  honour  of  detaining  you  as  my  guest." 

"Thanks  to  you,  my  dear  sir,  but  I  ride  in  haste,  the  bearer  of 
despatches  to  our  governor  in  Williamsburg,  which  may  not  brook 
delay." 

"Is  this  the  noble  steed  which  was  given  you  by  the  dying 
Braddock,  on  the  fatal  field  of  the  Monongahela  ?  and  this  the  ser 
vant  which  he  bequeathed  you  at  the  same  time  ?" 

Washington  answered  in  the  affirmative. 

"Then,  my  dear  colonel,  thus  mounted  and  attended,  you  may 
well  dine  with  me,  and  by  borrowing  somewhat  of  this  fine  moon 
light,  reach  Williamsburg  ere  his  excellency  shall  have  shaken 
off  his  morning  slumbers." 

"Do  I  understand  that  I  may  be  excused  immediately  after 
dinner  ?" 

"Immediately,  with  all  the  promptness  of  military  discipline. 

"Then,  sir,  I  accept  your  hospitality;"  and  gracefully  throwing 
himself  from  his  spirited  charger,  he  resigned  the  reins  to  his 
English  servant,  giving,  at  the  same  time,  strict  orders  as  to  the 
hour  when  he  must  be  ready  with  the  horses  to  pursue  their 
journey. 

"I  am  rejoiced,  Colonel  Washington,"  said  the  hospitable  old 
gentleman,  "thus  fortunately  to  have  met  you  on  my  morning 
ride ;  and  the  more  so,  as  I  have  some  guests  who  will  make  the 
repast  pass  pleasantly,  and  will  not  fail  to  appreciate  our  young 
and  valiant  soldier." 


116  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

Washington  bowed  his  thanks,  and  was  introduced  to  the  com 
pany.  Virginia's  far-famed  hospitality  was  well  set  forth  in  that 
spacious  baronial  hall.  Precise  in  his  household  regulations,  the 
social  feast  was  closed  at  the  time  the  host  had  predicted.  The 
servant  also  was  punctual.  He  knew  the  habits  of  his  master. 
At  the  appointed  moment,  he  stood  with  the  liorses  caparisoned 
at  the  gate.  Long  did  the  proud  steed  champ  his  bit,  and  curve 
his  arching  neck,  and  paw  the  broken  turf.  And  much  did  the 
menial  marvel,  as,  listening  to  every  footstep  that  paced  down  the 
avenue,  he  saw  the  sun  sink  in  the  west,  and  yet  no  master 
appear.  When  was  he  ever  before  known  to  fail  in  an  appoint 
ment  ?  The  evening  air  breathed  cool  and  damp,  and  soothed 
the  impatience  of  the  chafing  courser.  At  length,  orders  came 
that  the  horses  should  be  put  up  for  the  night.  WTonder  upon 
wonder !  when  his  business  writh  the  governor  was  so  urgent ! 
The  sun  rode  high  in  the  heavens  the  next  day,  ere  Washington 
mounted  for  his  journey.  No  explanation  was  given.  But  it  was 
rumoured,  that  among  the  guests  was  a  beautiful  and  youthful 
widow,  to  whose  charms  his  heart  had  responded.  This  was  fur 
ther  confirmed,  by  his  tarrying  but  a  brief  space  at  Williamsburg, 
and  retracing  his  route  with  unusual  celerity,  and  becoming  a 
frequent  visiter  at  the  house  of  the  late  Colonel  Custis,  in  that 
vicinity,  where,  the  following  year,  (January  6,  1759,)  his  nup 
tials  were  celebrated.  "And  rare  and  high,"  says  G.  W.  P. 
Custis,  Esq.,  the  descendant  and  biographer  of  the  lady,  «  rare 
and  high  was  the  revelry,  at  that  palmy  period  of  Virginia's  festal 
age ;  for  many  were  gathered  to  that  marriage,  of  the  good,  the 
great,  the  gifted,  and  the  gay  ;  while  Virginia,  with  joyful  accla 
mation,  hailed  in  the  prosperous  and  happy  bridegroom  her 
favourite  hero." 

Henceforth,  the  life  of  the  lady  of  Mount  Vernon  is  a  part  of 
the  history  of  her  country.  In  that  hallowed  retreat,  she  was  found 
entering  into  the  plans  of  Washington,  sharing  his  confidence, 
and  making  his  household  happy.  There,  her  only  daughter, 
Martha  Custis,  died  in  the  bloom  of  youth ;  and  a  few  years  after, 
when  the  troubles  of  the  country  drew  her  husband  to  the  post  of 
commander-in-chief  of  her  armies,  she  accompanied  him  to  Bos 
ton,  and  witnessed  its  siege  and  evacuation.  For  eight  years  he 
returned  no  more  to  enjoy  his  beloved  residence  on  the  banks  of 
the  Potomac.  During  his  absence  she  made  the  most  strenuous 
efforts  to  discharge  the  added  weight  of  care,  and  to  endure,  with 
changeless  trust  in  Heaven,  continual  anxiety  for  the  safety  of  one 


MARTHA    WASHINGTON.  117 

so  inexpressibly  dear.  At  the  close  of  each  campaign,  she 
repaired,  in  compliance  with  his  wishes,  to  head-quarters,  where 
the  ladies  of  the  general  officers  joined  her  in  forming  such  a 
society,  as  diffused  a  cheering  influence  over  even  the  gloom  of 
the  winter  at  Valley-Forge  and  Morristown.  The  opening  of 
every  campaign  was  the  signal  of  the  return  of  Lady  Washington 
(as  she  was  called  in  the  army)  to  her  domestic  cares  at  Mount 
Vernon.  "I  heard,"  said  she,  "the  first  and  the  last  cannon  of 
the  revolutionary  war."  The  rejoicings  which  attended  the  sur 
render  of  Cornwallis,  in  the  autumn  of  1781,  marked  for  her  a 
season  of  the  deepest  private  sorrow.  Her  only  remaining  child, 
Colonel  John  Custis,  the  aide-de-camp  of  Washington,  became, 
during  his  arduous  duties  at  the  siege  of  Yorktown,  the  victim  of 
an  epidemic  fever,  and  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven.  He  was 
but  a  boy  of  five  years,  at  the  time  of  her  second  marriage,  and 
had  drawn  forth  strongly  the  affection  and  regard  of  her  illustrious 
husband,  who  shared  her  affliction  for  his  loss,  and  by  the  ten- 
derest  sympathy  strove  to  alleviate  it. 

After  the  close  of  the  war,  a  few  years  were  devoted  to  the 
enjoyment  and  embellishments  of  their  favourite  Mount  Vernon. 
The  peace  and  returning  prosperity  of  their  country  gave  pure  and 
bright  ingredients  to  their  cup  of  happiness.  Their  mansion  was 
thronged  with  guests  of  distinction,  all  of  whom  remarked,  with 
admiration,  the  energy  of  Mrs.  Washington,  in  the  complicated 
duties  of  a  Virginia  housewife,  and  the  elegance  and  grace  with 
which  she  presided  at  her  noble  board. 

The  voice  of  a  free  nation,  conferring  on  General  Washington 
the  highest  honour  in  its  power  to  bestow,  was  not  obeyed  without 
a  sacrifice  of  feeling.  It  was  in  the  spring  of  1789,  that,  with  his 
lady,  he  bade  adieu  to  his  tranquil  abode,  to  assume  the  responsi 
bilities  of  the  first  presidency.  In  forming  his  domestic  establish 
ment,  he  mingled  the  simplicity  of  a  republic  with  that  degree  of 
dignity,  which  he  felt  was  necessary  to  secure  the  respect  of  older 
governments.  The  furniture  of  his  house,  the  livery  of  his  ser 
vants,  the  entertainment  of  his  guests,  displayed  elegance,  while 
they  rejected  ostentation.  In  all  these  arrangements,  Mrs.  Wash 
ington  was  as  a  second  self.  Her  Friday  evening  levees,  at 
which  he  was  always  present,  exhibited  that  perfect  etiquette 
which  marks  the  intercourse  of  the  dignified  and  high-bred. 
Commencing  at  seven,  and  closing  at  ten,  they  lent  no  more  sanc 
tion  to  late  hours  than  to  levity.  The  first  lady  of  the  nation  still 
preserved  the  habits  of  early  life.  Indulging  in  no  indolence,  she 


118  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

left  her  pillow  at  dawn,  and,  after  breakfast,  retired  to  her  chamber 
an  hour,  for  the  study  of  the  Scriptures  and  devotion.  This  prac 
tice,  it  is  said,  during  the  long  period  of  half  a  century,  she  never 
omitted.  The  duties  of  the  Sabbath  were  dear  to  her.  The  Pre 
sident  and  herself  attended  public  worship  with  regularity,  and 
in  the  evening  he  read  to  her,  in  her  chamber,  {he  Scriptures,  and 
a  sermon." 

Receiving  with  his  wife  an  addition  to  his  fortune  of  more  than 
a  hundred  thousand  dollars,  it  became  necessary  for  Washington 
to  devote  a  considerable  portion  of  his  time  to  the  care  and 
management  of  his  estate.  Accordingly,  in  April,  1759,  he 
retired  with  Mrs.  Washington  to  Mount  Vernon ;  having  spent 
the  three  months  intervening  from  the  time  of  his  marriage,  in 
arranging  the  affairs  of  his  wife's  estate,  and  in  attending  the  ses 
sion  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  which  was  convened  in  February. 
For,  during  the  last  campaign,  while  advancing  upon  Fort  Du- 
quesne,  he  was  chosen  by  the  people  of  Frederic  County  to  repre 
sent  them  in  the  Assembly. 

When  he  first  took  his  seat  in  the  house,  an  incident  occurred, 
of  sufficient  interest  to  require  a  notice  in  this  place.  The  House 
of  Burgesses  resolved  to  return  their  thanks  to  him  in  a  public 
manner  for  the  services  he  had  rendered  his  country,  and  this  duty 
devolved  on  his  friend,  Mr.  Robinson,  the  speaker  of  the  House. 
As  soon  as  Colonel  Washington  had  taken  his  seat,  the  speaker 
discharged  the  duty  imposed  upon  him  with  all  the  warmth  of 
panegyric  which  personal  regard  and  a  full  appreciation  of  his 
merits  could  dictate.  This  unwonted  and  unexpected  honour 
completely  robbed  the  young  warrior  of  his  self-possession.  He 
rose  to  express  his  acknowledgment,  but  such  was  his  trepidation 
and  confusion  that  he  could  not  give  distinct  utterance  to  a  sylla 
ble.  For  a  moment  he  blushed,  stammered,  and  trembled,  when 
the  speaker  relieved  him  with  a  stroke  of  address  that  would  have 
done  honour  to  Louis  the  Fourteenth  in  his  proudest  and  happiest 
moments  :  "Sit  down,  Mr.  Washington,"  said  he  with  a  concili 
ating  smile,  «  your  modesty  is  equal  to  your  valour,  and  that  sur 
passes  the  power  of  any  language  that  I  possess."' 

From  this  period  until  he  was  called  upon  to  take  part  in  the 
revolution,  a  period  of  fifteen  years,  Washington  was  constantly 
a  member  of  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses,  being  returned  at 
every  election,  with  large  majorities  over  everv  opponent.  During 
the  first  half  of  this  period  he  represented  theVounty  of  Frederic 

*  Wirt's  Life  of  Patrick  Henry. 


CHARACTER    AS    A    LEGISLATOR.  119 

in  conjunction  with  another  gentleman,  and  during  the  remainder 
of  the  time,  the  county  of  Fairfax  in  which  he  resided. 

In  the  House  of  Burgesses,  Washington  was  by  no  means  dis 
tinguished  for  his  eloquence.  He  "  had  none  of  those  brilliant 
and  extraordinary  qualities  which  strike  at  once  upon  the  human 
imagination.  He  was  not  one  of  those  ardent  spirits,  eager  to 
explode,  driven  onwards  by  the  energy  of  their  thoughts  or  of  their 
passions,  and  scattering  about  them  the  exuberance  of  their  own 
natures,  before  either  opportunity  or  necessity  has  called  forth  the 
exercise  of  their  powers.  Unacquainted  with  aught  of  inward 
agitation,  untormented  by  the  promptings  of  splendid  ambition, 
Washington  anticipated  none  of  the  occurrences  of  his  life,  and 
aspired  not  to  win  the  admiration  of  mankind.  His  firm  intellect 
and  his  high  heart  were  profoundly  modest  and  calm.  Capable 
of  rising  to  the  level  of  the  highest  greatness,  he  could,  without  a 
pang,  have  remained  ignorant  of  his  own  powers,  and  he  would 
have  found  in  the  cultivation  of  his  estate  enough  to  satisfy  those 
vast  faculties  which  were  equal  to  the  command  of  armies  and  the 
foundation  of  a  government.  But  when  the  opportunity  occurred, 
when  the  need  was,  without  an  effort  on  his  part,  and  without 
surprise  on  that  of  others,  or  rather,  as  has  just  been  shown,  in 
conformity  with  their  expectations,  the  wise  planter  shone  forth  a 
great  man.  He  had,  to  a  very  high  degree,  the  two  qualities 
which,  in  active  life,  fit  men  for  great  achievements ;  he  trusted 
firmly  in  his  own  thoughts,  and  dared  resolutely  to  act  upon 
them,  without  fear  of  responsibility."* 

The  interest  with  which  his  remarks  were  always  listened  to, 
arose  out  of  the  importance  of  the  subjects  which  elicited  them, 
the  manifest  soundness  of  his  views,  and  the  unbiassed  directness 
of  his  political  course.  Even  at  this  early  period  of  life,  the 
sobriety  of  his  judgment  anticipated  the  claims  of  advanced  age  ; 
and  though  he  rarely  generated  enthusiasm  in  his  hearers,  yet  he 
almost  invariably  convinced  their  minds  and  obtained  their  con 
currence.  He  evidently  acted  in  his  own  person,  upon  the  advice 
which  he  subsequently  gave  to  his  nephew  on  his  first  appearance 
in  the  Assembly.  « If  you  have  a  mind  to  secure  the  attention  of 
the  House,"  he  said,  "speak  seldom  but  on  important  subjects, 
except  such  as  particularly  relate  to  your  constituents  ;  and  in  the 
former  case,  make  yourself  completely  master  of  the  subject. 
Never  exceed  a  decent  warmth,  and  submit  your  sentiments  with 

*  Guizot. 


120  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

diffidence.  A  dictatorial  style,  though  it  may  carry  conviction,  is 
always  accompanied  with  disgust."* 

On  his  estate  at  Mount  Vernon,  Washington  engaged  exten 
sively  in  the  business  of  agriculture,  and  is  said  to  have  been 
remarkable  for  the  judgment  he  displayed  in  the  improvement  of 
his  lands.  On  his  farm  he  displayed  the  same  general  features 
of  character,  by  which  he  was  distinguished,  when  he  led  the 
army  and  fought  the  battles  of  his  country.  The  fixedness  and 
tenacity  of  purpose  which  we  have  seen  marking  his  military 
operations,  now  re-appeared  in  the  systematic  energy  with  which 
he  reduced  to  order  those  complicated  interests  which  had  long 
been  endangered  by  irregularity  and  neglect ;  while  the  same 
imperturbable  sobriety  of  judgment  which  had  contributed  equally 
with  his  martial  valour  to  the  preservation  of  his  country,  was 
again  exhibited  in  the  prudential  care  of  minor  interests,  and  in 
unvarying  seemliness  of  deportment.  Every  branch  of  business 
was  conducted  upon  system.  Exact  method  and  economy  were 
carried  into  every  department  of  his  domestic  concerns.  He 
personally  inspected  the  account  of  his  overseers  every  week  ;  the 
divisions  of  his  farms  were  numbered,  and  the  expense  of  culti 
vation,  and  the  produce  of  each  lot,  were  exactly  registered ;  so 
that  at  one  view  he  could  determine  the  profit  or  loss  of  any  parti 
cular  crop,  and  ascertain  the  comparative  advantage  of  various 
modes  of  husbandry.  He  became  one  of  the  largest  landholders  in 
North  America.  Besides  other  tracts  of  great  extent  and  value,  his 
Mount  Vernon  estate  consisted  of  nine  thousand  acres,  which 
were  entirely  under  his  own  management ;  and  from  it  alone,  he 
in  one  year  raised  seven  thousand  bushels  of  wheat,  and  ten  thou 
sand  of  Indian  corn.  His  establishments,  agricultural  and  do 
mestic,  consisted  of  no  fewer  than  a  thousand  persons ;  and  though 
the  greater  part  of  his  farming  implements  were  obtained  from 
London,  the  linen  and  woollen  cloth  required  in  his  business  were 
chiefly  manufactured  on  the  estate. 

It  was  during  this  period  of  Washington's  life  that  he  officiated 
as  judge  of  the  county  court.  He  was  also  elected  a  vestryman 
in  Truro  parish,  and  there,  as  in  the  House  of  Burgesses,  exercised 
his  powers,  and  spent  his  time  in  seeking  the  good  of  his  consti 
tuents,  his  fellow-parishioners.  On  one  occasion,  about  the  year 
1765,  he  gained  a  triumph  of  some  moment,  which  has  often  been 
cited  by  the  venerable  Mr.  Massey,  then  the  clergyman  of  the 
parish,  as  an  instance  of  characteristic  address.  "The  dilapida- 

*  Sparks. 


RELIGIOUS    OBSERVANCES.  121 

tion  of  the  old  church  rendering  it  expedient  either  to  repair  or 
rebuild,  the  subject  was  agitated  in  the  vestry,  of  which  Colonel 
Washington  was  a  member.  It  having  been  determined  after  due 
consideration,  that  a  new  church  should  be  built,  the  question  of 
location  next  presented  itself.  George  Mason,  a  prominent  mem 
ber  of  the  vestry,  was  in  favour  of  the  old  situation,  in  the  neigh 
bourhood  of  which  he  had  his  residence.  Others  maintained  that 
its  site  was  not  sufficiently  central.  George  Mason  supposed  the 
place,  if  not  perfectly  central,  yet  not  seriously  inconvenient  of 
access  to  any;  and  especially  thought  that  the  sacred  associations 
which  belonged  to  it,  as  the  place  of  worship  for  several  genera 
tions,  and  as  hallowed  by  the  sepulchres  of  their  fathers,  should 
induce  a  preference  for  the  spot.  Colonel  Washington  differed 
with  George  Mason,  <  objecting  to  the  distance  and  the  inconve 
nience  to  which  his  plan  would  subject  the  parishioners.  He, 
moreover,  could  not  see  the  force  of  the  consideration  derived 
from  the  contiguity  of  the  grave-yard.  He  thought  churches  were 
erected  for  the  living,  and  not  for  the  dead.  Nor  was  it  necessary 
that  any  desecration  of  the  place  should  occur.  The  ashes  of  the 
dead  could  be  preserved  inviolably  secure  by  a  proper  enclosure.' 
The  vestry,  however,  adjourned,  without  coming  to  any  settled 
conclusion,  another  meeting  being  appointed  with  a  view  to  a 
final  decision. 

"In  the  mean  time  Colonel  Washington  occupied  himself  in  sur 
veying  the  parish,  ascertaining  its  limits,  and  the  relative  position 
of  the  old  church.  Having  done  this,  and  prepared  a  draught  of 
the  survey  with  his  usual  accuracy  and  neatness,  he  awaited  the 
meeting  of  the  vestry.  On  that  occasion,  George  Mason  again 
urged,  and  with  increased  vehemence,  the  claims  of  the  old  situa 
tion.  Having  done  so,  Colonel  Washington  repeated  his  former 
objections,  and  dwelt  upon  the  remoteness  of  the  place,  took  from 
his  pocket  the  plan  which  he  had  prepared,  in  which  the  old 
church  was  found  to  be  in  an  extreme  corner  of  the  parish.  This 
ocular  demonstration  soon  settled  the  matter,  and  brought  about 
a  decision  against  the  old  and  in  favour  of  the  new  location, 
which  would  bring  the  church  in  the  centre  of  the  parish. 

"Here  it  was,  at  the  new  or  Pohick  Church,  that  Washington 
habitually  attended,  from  the  period  of  its  erection,  till  the  com 
mencement  of  the  Revolutionary  War.  Here  he  offered  his 
adorations  to  the  God  and  Father  of  all,  and  here  received  the 
symbols  of  a  Saviour's  love  at  the  hands  of  the  consecrated  ser 
vant  of  the  altar. 

16  L 


122 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


"The  Rev.  LeeMassey  was  the  rector  of  the  parish  here  referred 
to.  He  was  a  highly  respectable  man,  and  shared  much  of  the 
esteem  of  Washington.  In  regard  to  the  religious  deportment  of 
his  distinguished  friend,  especially  in  the  house  of  God,  he  has 
often  been  heard  to  express  himself  in  the  following  strain :  <  I 
never  knew  so  constant  an  attendant  on  church  as  Washington. 
And  his  behaviour  in  the  house  of  God  was  ever  so  deeply  reve 
rential,  that  it  produced  the  happiest  effects  on  my  congregation ; 
and  greatly  assisted  me  in  my  pulpit  labours.  No  company  ever 
withheld  him  from  church.  I  have  often  been  at  Mount  Vernon, 
on  the  Sabbath  morning  when  his  breakfast  table  was  filled  with 
guests ;  but  to  him  they  furnished  no  pretext  for  neglecting  his 
God,  and  losing  the  satisfaction  of  setting  a  good  example.  For 
instead  of  staying  at  home,  out  of  false  complaisance  to  them,  he 
used  constantly  to  invite  them  to  accompany  him.7 ' 

*  McGuire. 


THE    STAMP    ACT. 


123 


G HO  ROE     GRENVtLtB. 


CHAPTER   IX. 


NALTERABLY  mindful  as  he  was 
of  his  religious,  domestic,  and  pa 
rish  duties,  Washington  still  con 
tinued  to  watch  with  a  jealous  eye 
the  progress  of  public  events,  espe 
cially  as  occurring  in  the  intercourse 
of  the  colonies  with  the  mother 
country.  The  French  war  having 
occasioned  a  heavy  increase  of  ex 

pense  to  the  British  government,  the  ministers  began  to  look  for 
remuneration  to  the  American  colonies,  for  whose  immediate 
benefit  the  increased  expense  had  been  incurred.  Resolutions 
had  previously  passed  the  British  parliament,*  declaring  the  expe 
diency  of  laying  a  stamp  duty  in  America  ;  but,  before  1765,  they 
had  not  been  followed  by  any  legislative  act.  The  mere  declara 
tion,  however,  of  a  right  denied  by  the  colonists,  of  imposing  on 


124  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

them  a  tax  without  their  consent,  was  sufficient  to  call  from  them 
innumerable  remonstrances,  and  .strong  constitutional  objections 
were  urged  to  the  passage  of  such  an  act  by  statesmen  of  both 
England  and  America. 

Notwithstanding  the  remonstrances  and  the^  powerful  reasons 
offered  against  this  unjust  and  hazardous  experiment,  in  March, 
1765,  George  Grenville,  the  first  commissioner  of  the  Treasury, 
introduced  a  bill  into  the  House  of  Commons  for  imposing  a 
stamp  duty  on  the  American  colonies.  By  this  act,  the  instruments 
of  writing  in  daily  use  among  a  commercial  people  were  to  be 
null  and  void,  unless  executed  upon  parchment  or  paper  stamped 
with  a  specific  duty.  Law  documents  and  leases,  articles  of 
apprenticeship  and  contracts,  protests  and  bills  of  sale,  newspapers 
and  advertisements,  almanacs  and  pamphlets,  all  must  contribute 
to  the  British  treasury.  The  unjust  and  oppressive  nature  of  this 
bill  raised  up  for  it  opponents,  even  in  the  British  parliament.  Its 
passage  was  eloquently  opposed  by  Colonel  Barre,  an  officer  who 
had  served  with  the  British  army  in  America,  and  who  was  dis 
tinguished  in  the  House  of  Commons,  as  one  of  the  firmest  and 
strongest  supporters  of  civil  liberty.  The  celebrated  Charles 
Townshend,who  afterwards  succeeded  to  Grenville's  office,  replied 
in  support  of  the  bill,  and  after  severely  reprobating  the  attacks 
made  upon  it  by  Colonel  Barre,  concluded  by  indignantly  de 
manding:  "And  now,  will  these  Americans — children  planted  by 
our  care,  nourished  by  our  indulgence  till  they  are  grown  up  to 
a  degree  of  strength  and  opulence,  and  protected  by  our  arms — 
will  they  grudge  to  contribute  their  mite  to  relieve  us  from  the 
heavy  weight  of  that  burden  which  we  lie  under?" 

To  this  invidious  appeal  to  the  pride  and  prejudices  of  the 
members  of  the  House  of  Commons,  Colonel  Barre,  after  repelling 
the  censure  personally  addressed  to  him,  thus  energetically  replied 
to  the  conclusion  of  his  opponent's  remarks  : 

«  They  planted  by  your  care !  No,  your  oppressions  planted 
them  in  America.  They  fled  from  your  tyranny  to  a  then  uncul 
tivated  and  inhospitable  country,  where  they  exposed  themselves 
to  almost  all  the  hardships  to  which  human  nature  is  liable  ;  and 
among  others  to  the  cruelties  of  a  savage  foe,  the  most  subtle, 
and,  I  will  take  upon  me  to  say,  the  most  formidable  of  any  peo 
ple  upon  the  face  of  "God's  earth ;  and  yet,  actuated  by  the  princi 
ples  of  true  English  liberty,  they  preferred  all  hardships  to  those 
which  they  had  endured  in  their  own  country  from  the  hands  of 
men  who  should  have  been  their  friends.  They  nourished  by  your 


COLONEL    BARRE'S    SPEECH.  125 

indulgence  !  They  grew  by  your  neglect  of  them.  As  soon  as 
you  began  to  care  about  them,  that  care  was  exercised  in  sending 
persons  to  rule  them  in  one  department  or  another,  who  were, 
perhaps,  the  deputies  of  deputies  to  some  members  of  this  house, 
sent  to  spy  out  their  liberties,  to  misrepresent  their  actions,  and 
to  prey  upon  them, — men,  whose  behaviour,  on  many  occasions, 
has  caused  the  blood  of  those  sons  of  liberty  to  recoil  within 
them, — men,  promoted  to  the  highest  seats  of  justice,  some  of 
whom  to  my  knowledge  were  glad,  by  going  to  a  foreign  country, 
to  escape  being  brought  to  the  bar  of  a  court  of  justice  in  their 
own.  They  protected  by  your  arms  !  They  have  nobly  taken  up 
arms  in  your  defence  ;  and  have  exerted  a  shining  valour, 
amidst  their  constant  and  laborious  industry,  for  the  defence  of  a 
country  whose  frontier  was  drenched  in  blood,  while  its  interior 
parts  yielded  all  their  little  savings  to  your  emoluments.  And 
believe  me, — remember,  I  this  day  told  you  so,  that  the  same 
spirit  of  freedom  which  actuated  that  people  at  first  will  accompany 
them  still ;  but  prudence  forbids  me  to  explain  myself  farther. 
God  knows  I  do  not  at  this  time  speak  from  motives  of  party 
spirit;  what  I  deliver  are  the  genuine  sentiments  of  my  heart. 
However  superior  to  me  in  general  knowledge  and  experience  the 
respectable  body  of  this  house  may  be,  yet  I  claim  to  know  more 
of  America  than  most  of  you  ;  having  seen  and  been  conversant 
with  that  country.  The  people,  I  believe,  are  as  truly  loyal  as 
any  subjects  the  king  has, — but  they  are  a  people  jealous  of  their 
liberties,  and  will  vindicate  them,  if  ever  they  should  be  violated. 
But  the  subject  is  too  delicate,  I  will  say  no  more." 

Though  the  act  was  further  opposed  by  General  Conway,  Alder 
man  Beckford,  and  a  few  others,  it  passed  the  Commons  by  a 
majority  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  fifty.  In  the  House  of  Lords 
it  met  with  no  opposition ;  and  on  the  22d  of  March  received  the 
royal  assent,  though  it  was  not  to  take  effect  until  the  first  of  No 
vember  following.  The  night  after  the  bill  passed,  Dr.  Franklin, 
then  in  London,  wrote  to  Mr.  Charles  Thomson:  "The  sun  of 
liberty  is  set ;  you  must  light  up  the  candles  of  industry  and 
economy."  Mr.  Thomson  replied:  "I  was  apprehensive  that 
other  lights  would  be  the  consequence,  and  I  foresee  the  opposi 
tion  that  will  be  made." 

The  intelligence  of  the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act  was  received 
in  America  with  feelings  of  stupified  amazement.  Had  its  autho 
rity  and  operation  come  close  upon  the  announcement,  it  is  im 
possible  to  imagine  what  wonder  and  terror  might  have  done. 

L2 


126  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

Happily  for  liberty,  there  was  time  given  for  its  consideration  and 
discussion.  The  Assembly  of  Virginia  was  in  session  when  the 
heavy  tidings  arrived.  On  the  28th  of  May,  Patrick  Henry  intro 
duced  into  that  body  a  series  of  resolutions,  which,  after  some 
opposition,  was  finally  passed.  The  tenor  of  these  resolutions  may 
be  gathered  from  two  of  them,  which  were  afls  follows: — "Re 
solved,  that  his  majesty's  most  liege  people  of  this  his  most  ancient 
colony,  have  enjoyed  the  right  of  being  thus  governed  by  their 
own  Assembly  in  the  article  of  taxes  and  internal  police,  and  that 
the  same  have  never  been  forfeited,  nor  in  any  other  way  yielded 
up,  but  have  been  constantly  recognised  by  the  king  and  people 
of  Great  Britain. 

« Resolved,  therefore,  that  the  General  Assembly  of  this  colony, 
together  with  his  majesty,  or  his  substitute,  have,  in  their  repre 
sentative  capacity,  the  only  exclusive  right  and  power  to  lay  taxes 
and  impositions  upon  the  inhabitants  of  this  colony ;  and  that 
every  attempt  to  vest  such  a  power  in  any  person  or  persons 
whatsoever,  other  than  the  General  Assembly  aforesaid,  is  illegal, 
unconstitutional,  and  unjust,  and  bears  a  manifest  tendency  to 
destroy  British  as  well  as  American  freedom." 

The  opponents  of  Henry's  resolutions  loaded  him  with  abuse, 
and  so  galled  him  with  menaces,  that,  at  one  stage  of  the  discus 
sion,  he  was  provoked  to  a  tone  of  defiance,  and  his  words,  memo 
rable  as  they  are  in  themselves,  were  made  immortal  by  the 
remarkable  scene  produced  by  them.  "Csesar,"  he  exclaimed, 
"had  his  Brutus,  Charles  the  First  his  Cromwell,  and  George  the 
Third,"  here  he  was  interrupted  by  the  cry  of  Treason,  repeated 
by  the  Speaker,  and  echoed  from  every  part  of  the  House  ;  but, 
drowning  the  startling  cry  with  his  commanding  voice,  he  con 
tinued,  "George  the  Third,  I  say,  may  profit  by  their  example! 
If  this  be  treason,  make  the  most  of  it." 

Washington  was  a  member  of  the  Assembly  which  passed  these 
resolutions,  and  though  his  name  does  not  appear  on  the  minutes, 
yet  that  he  was  arrayed  on  the  side  of  liberty  may  be  safely  and 
surely  inferred  from  his  letter  to  his  wife's  uncle  in  London,  writ 
ten  a  short  time  afterwards. 

"At  present,"  he  says,  "there  are  few  things  among  us  that  can 
be  interesting  to  you.  The  Stamp  Act  imposed  on  the  colonies 
by  the  parliament  of  Great  Britain,  engrosses  the  conversation  of 
the  speculative  part  of  the  colonists,  who  look  upon  this  unconsti 
tutional  method  of  taxation  as  a  direful  attack  upon  their  liberties, 
and  loudly  exclaim  against  the  violation.  What  may  be  the  result 


OPINION    ON    THE    STAMP   ACT.  127 

of  this,  and  of  some  other  (I  think  I  may  add  ill-judged)  mea 
sures,  I  will  not  undertake  to  determine  ;  but  this  I  may  venture 
to  affirm,  that  the  advantage  accruing  to  the  mother  country  will 
fall  greatly  short  of  the  expectations  of  the  ministry;  for  certain  it 
is,  that  our  whole  substance  already  in  a  manner  flows  to  Great 
Britain,  and  that  whatsoever  contributes  to  lessen  our  importations 
must  be  hurtful  to  her  manufacturers.  The  eyes  of  our  people 
already  begin  to  be  opened ;  and  they  will  perceive,  that  many 
luxuries,  for  which  we  lavish  our  substance  in  Great  Britain,  can 
well  be  dispensed  with,  whilst  the  necessaries  of  life  are  mostly  to 
be  had  within  ourselves.  This,  consequently,  will  introduce  fru 
gality,  and  be  a  necessary  incitement  to  industry.  If  Great  Bri 
tain,  therefore,  loads  her  manufactures  with  heavy  taxes,  will  it 
not  facilitate  such  results?  They  will  not  compel  us  to  give  our 
money  for  their  exports,  whether  we  will  or  not ;  and  I  am  cer 
tain  lhat  none  of  their  traders  will  part  with  them  without  a  valu 
able  consideration.  Where,  then,  is  the  utility  of  these  restric 
tions  ? 

"As  to  the  Stamp  Act,  regarded  in  a  single  view,  one  and  the 
first  bad  consequence  attending  it  is,  that  our  courts  of  judicature 
must  inevitably  be  shut  up ;  for  it  is  impossible,  or  next  to  impos 
sible,  under  our  present  circumstances,  that  the  act  of  parliament 
can  be  complied  with,  were  we  ever  so  willing  to  enforce  its  exe 
cution.  And,  not  to  say  (which  alone  would  be  sufficient)  that 
we  have  not  money  to  pay  for  the  stamps,  there  are  many  other 
cogent  reasons  which  prove  that  it  would  be  ineffectual.  If  a  stop 
be  put  to  our  judicial  proceedings,  I  fancy  the  merchants  of  Great 
Britain,  trading  to  the  colonies,  will  not  be  among  the  last  to  wish 
for  a  repeal  of  the  act." 

When  the  governor  became  acquainted  with  the  work  upon 
which  the  Assembly  was  engaged,  it  was  dissolved,  and  writs  for 
new  elections  were  issued ;  but  so  entirely  did  the  people  take 
part  with  the  opposition  to  the  scheme  of  taxation  proposed  by  the 
British  ministry,  that,  in  almost  every  instance,  those  members 
who  had  voted  in  favour  of  the  above  resolutions  were  re-elected, 
while  those  who  had  voted  against  them  were  generally  excluded 
in  favour  of  candidates  who  favoured  the  popular  opinions. 

Similar  sentiments  flew  like  lightning  through  the  other  colo 
nies,  but  the  representatives  of  Massachusetts  originated  a  still 
more  momentous  innovation,  by  recommending  a  congress  of 
deputies  to  meet  at  New  York,  in  order  to  consult  upon  the  posi 
tion  in  which  the  colonies  at  large  were  placed.  Nine  colonies 


128  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

responded  to  this  call ;  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  Georgia, 
being  prevented  by  the  difficulty  of  convoking  their  assemblies, 
when  opposed  by  the  governors.  New  Hampshire  was  not  repre 
sented,  from  some  unknown  cause.  This  convention  adopted  a 
series  of  fourteen  resolutions,  in  which  they  denounced  the  injus 
tice  and  ruinous  consequences  of  their  being  taxed  without  being 
represented :  a  privilege,  which,  from  their  distance,  it  was  im 
possible  to  enjoy.  They  prepared  an  address  to  the  throne,  and 
petitions  to  both  houses  of  parliament,  in  which  this  sentiment 
was  forcibly  expressed,  while  they  declared  that  their  connection 
with  the  empire  formed  their  greatest  happiness  and  security. 

The  people  of  the  colonies,  in  the  mean  time,  everywhere 
formed  combinations  against  the  execution  of  the  Stamp  Act.  It 
was  resolved  to  dispense  with  stamps  upon  the  various  instru 
ments,  to  the  validity  of  which  they  had  previously  been  consi 
dered  necessary,  to  abandon  litigation  for  the  settlement  of  dis 
putes,  as  well  as  to  abandon,  as  far  as  possible,  the  importation  of 
British  manufactures.  The  day  on  which  the  Stamp  Act  was  to 
come  into  force,  was  ushered  in  by  the  general  tolling  of  bells, 
and  by  other  demonstrations  of  popular  regret. 

Meanwhile,  in  England,  affairs  began  to  take  a  favourable  turn 
for  the  colonists,  through  circumstances  wholly  independent  of 
the  merits  of  the  question.  A  turn  of  the  political  wheel  brought 
into  power  the  Marquis  of  Rockingham,  a  nobleman  professing 
principles  decidedly  liberal.  The  colonial  department  was  in 
trusted  to  General  Conway,  who  had  stood  forward  as  the  zealous 
advocate  of  the  Americans.  His  views  were  seconded  by  peti 
tions  from  London,  Liverpool,  Manchester,  Birmingham,  New 
castle,  Glasgow,  and  other  great  commercial  towns,  deprecating 
the  loss  of  their  lucrative  commerce.  Yet  ministers  were  beset 
with  considerable  difficulties,  having  to  maintain  the  honour  of 
the  British  government,  wrhich  wrould  be  seriously  compromised 
and  its  authority  weakened  by  yielding  to  a  resistance  thus  vio 
lently  urged.  In  the  debate  on  the  address,  Mr.  Grenville  main 
tained  that  if  the  government  yielded,  their  power  over  America  was 
lost;  what  was  now  almost  rebellion  would  become  a  revolution. 
"The  seditious  spirit  in  the  colonies  owed  its  birth,  he  said,  to 
factions  in  the  House.  We  were  bid  to  expect  disobedience  ;  what 
was  this  but  telling  the  Americans  to  resist — to  encourage  their 
obstinacy  with  the  expectation  of  support?"  This  argument, 
however,  seems  untenable,  when  we  consider  the  apathy  shown  in 
parliament  till  the  disturbances  had  actually  arisen.  Mr.  Nugent, 


REPEAL    OF    THE    STAMP  ACT.  129 

afterwards  Lord  Clare,  insisted  that  the  colonies  should  at  least 
be  obliged  to  own  the  right  of  taxation,  and  to  solicit  the  repeal 
of  the  late  act  as  a  favour.  The  opposite  cause  was  most  strenu 
ously  advocated  by  Mr.  Pitt,  who,  after  a  long  illness,  reappeared 
on  the  scene.  On  the  proposal  to  tax  America,  so  great  he  said 
had  been  his  agitation  for  the  consequences,  that  if  he  could  have 
been  carried  in  his  bed,  and  placed  on  the  floor  of  the  House,  he 
would  have  come  to  bear  testimony  against  it.  He  maintained 
the  supremacy  of  Great  Britain  in  all  matters  of  government  and 
legislation  ;  the  greater  must  rule  the  less  ;  but  taxes  were  a  gift 
or  grant  from  the  people ;  and  how  could  any  assembly  give  or 
grant  what  was  not  their  own.  "I  rejoice,"  said  he,  "that  Ame 
rica  has  resisted.  Three  millions  of  people,  so  dead  to  all  the 
feelings  of  liberty  as  voluntarily  to  submit  to  be  slaves,  would 
have  been  fit  instruments  to  make  slaves  of  the  rest.  In  a  good 
cause,  on  a  sound  bottom,  the  force  of  this  country  can  crush 
America  to  atoms.  But  on  this  ground  your  success  would  be 
hazardous.  America,  if  she  fell,  would  fall  like  the  strong  man ; 
she  would  embrace  the  pillars  of  the  state,  and  pull  down  the  con 
stitution  along  with  her." 

These  debates  resulted  in  the  passage  of  a  "declaratory  act," 
on  the  24th  of  February,  1766,  which  asserted  "that  the  parliament 
have,  and  of  right  ought  to  have,  power  to  bind  the  colonies  in 
all  cases  whatsoever  ;"  and  was  followed  on  the  19th  of  March 
by  another,  repealing  the  Stamp  Act.  Notwithstanding  the  unpa 
latable  ingredient  with  which  this  act  was  accompanied,  the  joy 
of  America,  on  receiving  the  intelligence,  was  unbounded.  The 
assertion  of  the  abstract  principle  of  right  gave  the  colonists  but 
little  concern,  because  they  considered  it  as  merely  intended  to  save 
the  honour  of  the  nation,  and  believed  confidently,  that  no  future 
attempt  would  be  made  to  reduce  it  to  practice.  The  highest 
honours  were  everywhere  decreed  to  those  members  of  parlia 
ment  who  had  been  strenuous  in  obtaining  a  repeal  of  the  obnox 
ious  act,  and  in  Virginia,  an  act  passed  the  House  of  Burgesses, 
for  erecting  a  statue  to  his  majesty,  as  an  acknowledgment  of 
their  high  sense  of  his  attention  to  the  rights  and  petitions  of  his 
people. 

The  opinions  of  Washington,  on  this  occasion,  may  be  perceived 
from  a  letter  written  at  the  time,  to  a  friend  in  London,  in  which, 
after  glancing  at  the  unhappy  consequences  which  might  have 
followed  from  the  prosecution  of  the  designs  of  the  Grenville 
government,  he  says: 
17 


130  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

"Those,  therefore,  who  wisely  foresaw  such  an  event,  and  were 
instrumental  in  procuring  a  repeal  of  the  act,  are,  in  my  opinion, 
deservedly  entitled  to  the  thanks  of  the  well-wishers  to  Britain 
and  her  colonies,  and  must  reflect  with  pleasure,  that,  through 
their  means,  many  scenes  of  confusion  and  distress  have  been 
prevented.  Mine  they  accordingly  have,  and  always  shall  have, 
for  their  opposition  to  any  act  of  oppression  ;  and  that  act  could 
be  looked  upon  in  no  other  light  by  every  person  who  would 
view  it  in  its  proper  colours." 

In  the  joy  of  the  colonists  on  the  retraction  of  the  sentiments 
and  designs  indicated  in  the  Stamp  Act,  all  past  jealousies  were 
merged,  and  it  may  safely  be  said  that  the  union  of  the  colonies 
with  the  mother  country  was  never  more  complete  than  at  this  mo 
ment.  This  disposition,  however,  was  not  suffered  long  to  con 
tinue.  An  entirely  new  cabinet  came  into  power,  at  the  head  of 
which  was,  nominally,  Mr.  Pitt,  the  friend  of  America  ;  but  his 
health  was  so  broken  that  he  was  unable  to  take  part  in  public 
affairs,  and  the  lead  was  taken  by  Charles  Townshend,  now  chan 
cellor  of  the  Exchequer,  a  man  of  the  most  brilliant  wit  and  elo 
quence,  whom  we  have  already  seen  advocating  measures  in  oppo 
sition  to  the  interests  of  America. 

The  power  of  Townshend  over  the  House  of  Commons  was 
almost  unbounded,  but  he  was  destitute  of  those  solid  qualities 
which  are  so  necessary  to  statesmen,  while  he  suffered  himself  to 
be  impelled  by  an  inordinate  vanity  to  the  vain  attempt  to  please 
both  parties.  Finding  that  concession  to  America  was  in  bad 
odour  among  the  majority  of  the  House,  he  determined  to  attempt 
the  perilous  measure  of  imposing  a  tax  on  the  colonies,  which 
wrould  be  less  offensive  to  them  as  wrell  as  more  efficacious  than 
the  Stamp  Act. 

With  artistic  hand  he  avoided  the  vexed  question,  and  called 
the  imposition  of  revenue  a  regulation  of  trade.  The  right  to  make 
regulations  of  trade  had  been  exercised  by  Britain,  and  acceded 
to  by  the  colonists  ;  consequently  he  thought  himself  safe  in  1767, 
in  bringing  forward  a  bill  which  was  quickly  passed  into  a  law, 
for  granting  duties  on  glass,  paper,  tea,  and  painters'  colours, 
exported  from  Britain  to  British  colonies. 

But  England  had  now  to  deal  with  a  strong  and  enlightened 
people.  They  would  have  borne  this  load  without  a  murmur, 
before  their  jealousy  was  aroused  and  the  integrity  of  their  liberty 
questioned  ;  but  now  they  recognised  in  it  the  first  fruit  of  the 
Declaratory  Act,  and  it  was  met  immediately  by  bold  and  animated 


OPPOSITION    TO    TAXATION.  131 

discussions  as  to  the  distinction  between  tax  bills,  and  bills  for 
the  regulation  of  trade.  To  add  to  the  alarm  of  the  colonists,  a 
board  of  resident  commissioners  of  customs  was  established  at 
each  of  the  principal  sea-ports.  The  principle  of  these  arrange 
ments,  as  the  prime  minister  well  knew,  could  not  be  objected  to, 
but  they  pressed  with  such  severity  upon  the  colonists  that  their 
indignation  was  tenfold  stronger  than  before.  The  new  regula 
tions  were  spoken  of  as  a  burden,  and  a  curse.  "Nothing,"  said 
they,  "is  left  us  but  to  complain  and  pay."  They  soon  disco 
vered  another  alternative,  of  which  they  made  noble  use. 

Redress  was  at  first  sought  through  constitutional  channels. 
Memorials,  petitions,  remonstrances,  were  all  tried,  but  in  vain. 
A  harder  necessity  suggested  bolder  remedies.  The  Assembly  of 
Massachusetts,  in  January,  1768,  drew  up  a  petition  to  the  king, 
asserting,  in  decided,  though  not  violent  terms,  the  right  of  exemp 
tion  from  all  taxes  imposed  without  their  consent ;  and  soon  after 
they  took  the  more  obnoxious  measure  of  entering  a  resolution  on 
their  minutes,  directing  that  a  circular  letter  should  be  written  to 
the  speakers  of  the  different  Assemblies  throughout  the  colonies, 
requesting  their  co-operation  and  assistance  in  seeking  for  "  a 
legal  and  constitutional  redress  of  their  grievances."  This  reso 
lution  was  violently  resisted  at  first,  and  decided  in  the  negative ; 
but,  on  its  being  renewed  the  next  day,  it  was  passed  by  a  large 
majority.  This  proceeding  displeased  the  governor,  and  the  Earl 
of  Hillsborough,  the  colonial  secretary  of  England,  being  informed 
of  it,  directed  Governor  Bernard  to  call  upon  the  Assembly  to 
rescind  the  resolution,  or,  in  case  of  non-compliance,  to  dissolve 
it.  Accordingly,  in  June,  the  governor,  as  if  rescinding  the 
resolution  could  unwrite  the  letter,  demanded  its  erasure  from  the 
records  of  the  house.  A  strong  confirmatory  resolution,  passed 
by  a  vote  of  92  to  17,  wras  its  ans\ver.  This  resolution,  however, 
was  not  adopted  until  after  several  ineffectual  attempts  at  expla 
nation,  which  resulted  only  in  recrimination  and  defiance.  The 
governor  immediately  dissolved  the  Assembly,  and  sent  a  counter 
circular  to  the  other  Assemblies,  warning  them  not  to  follow  the 
example  of  that  of  Massachusetts. 

At  Boston  fresh  grounds  of  irritation  continually  arose.  When 
the  commissioners  of  customs  arrived,  they  met  with  undisguised 
resentment  from  the  populace.  Associating  them  with  a  wide 
scheme  of  subjugation,  the  people  shunned  them  as  evil  things. 
But  as  the  preparation  for  exacting  the  revenue  proceeded,  the 
gloom  of  the  people  deepened  into  anger,  and  threatened  revenge. 


132  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

Some  slight  disturbances  took  place.  The  vessels  of  war  in  the 
bay  shifted  their  moorings  ;  and  on  land  and  water  every  thing 
wore  an  alarming  aspect.  The  seizure  of  the  sloop  Liberty — an 
ominous  name — belonging  to  John  Hancock,  a  popular  leader,  for 
an  infringment  of  the  revenue  laws,  incited  the  people  to  renewed 
acts  of  violence,  which  drove  the  commissioners  of  customs  for 
shelter  to  Castle  William.  To  suppress  this  spirit  of  insubordi 
nation,  the  ships  of  war  wrere  brought  nearer  to  the  town,  and  two 
regiments  of  soldiers  were  ordered  from  New  York  to  Boston. 
The  intention  of  the  British  government  to  send  this  force  to  Bos 
ton  having  been  announced,  the  selectmen  of  ninety-six  towns  of 
the  colony  of  Massachusetts  met  in  Faneuil  Hall,  and  disclaim 
ing  legislative  authority,  merely  recommended  moderate  measures, 
and  then  dissolved  itself.  The  day  after  the  adjournment  of  this 
convention,  the  troops  arrived,  and  landed  without  opposition 
under  the  protection  of  the  armed  vessels  in  the  harbour. 

The  intelligence  of  the  refractory  spirit  manifested  by  the  inhabit 
ants  of  Boston,  produced  such  irritation  in  the  British  parliament, 
that  in  February,  1769,  resolutions  were  adopted,  prompting  the 
king  to  vigorous  measures  against  all  persons  guilty  of  what  they 
were  pleased  to  denominate  treasonable  acts  ;  and  pledging  the 
faith  of  the  kingdom  to  second  the  most  vigorous  measures  his 
majesty  could  adopt.  They  went  so  far  as  to  beseech  him,  in  pur 
suance  of  powers  contained  in  an  obsolete  law,  to  seize  the  offend 
ers,  and  bring  them  to  England,  to  be  tried  under  a  special  com 
mission. 

Previous  to  this  impolitic  action  of  parliament,  (in  March,  1768,) 
the  people  of  Massachusetts  had  entered  into  an  agreement  for  the 
non-importation  of  British  goods  until  the  objectionable  taxes 
should  be  removed.  These  agreements  were  now  renewed,  and 
observed  with  increased  rigour.  With  the  speed  of  evil  tidings, 
the  resolutions  of  parliament  reached  the  colony  of  Virginia.  The 
Assembly  of  that  province  being  then  in  session,  guided  by  the 
genius  of  Patrick  Henry,  counter-resolutions  were  proposed  and 
carried,  by  wliich  the  principles  of  American  liberty  were  again 
asserted.  Other  colonies  adopted  similar  resolutions  ;  and  when 
cargoes  of  British  goods  arrived,  they  were  packed  up  in  store 
houses,  and  there  left  to  rot,  or,  in  some  instances,  reshipped  and 
sent  back  to  England.  This  occasioned  great  distress  among  the 
British  manufacturers,  who,  thus  losing  their  most  profitable  market, 
earnestly  petitioned  the  ministers  to  repeal  the  duties  which  were 
ruining  them.  A  change  in  the  ministry  at  this  crisis  seemed  to 


THE    NON-IMPORTATION    AGREEMENTS.        133 

favour  the  colonists  and  manufacturers.  Lord  North  was  placed 
at  the  head  of  affairs.  He  commenced  his  administration  by 
obtaining  the  passage  of  a  bill  repealing  all  the  American  duties, 
except  that  on  tea.  This  reservation  was  extremely  odious  to  the 
American  colonists,  as  it  was  a  practical  assertion  of  the  right  of 
parliament  to  impose  internal  taxes  without  their  consent,  the 
very  right  which  they  had  so  long  opposed.  Not  ungrateful, 
however,  for  the  removal  of  a  part  of  the  burden ;  they  so  far 
relaxed  their  associations,  as  to  allow  the  importation  of  all  arti 
cles  except  tea ;  while  they  entered  into  a  further  agreement  for 
the  non-consumption  of  that  commodity. 

The  views  of  Colonel  Washington  on  the  subject  of  the  non 
importation  agreements  at  this  time  were  most  distinct  and  deci 
sive.  They  were  stated  at  large  in  a  letter  dated  5th  April,  1769, 
and  addressed  to  George  Mason,  an  intimate  friend  and  neigh 
bour.  The  letter  was  written  after  receiving  the  resolutions  of 

O 

the  merchants  of  Philadelphia,  in  favour  of  the  non-importation  of 
articles  of  British  manufacture;  which  resolutions  he  had  received 
from  Dr.  Ross,  and  then  forwarded  to  Mr.  Mason. 

"Herewith,"  he  said,  "you  will  receive  a  letter  and  sundry 
papers,  which  were  forwarded  to  me  a  day  or  two  ago,  by  Dr. 
Ross,  of  Bladensburg.  I  transmit  them  with  the  greater  pleasure, 
as  my  own  desire  of  knowing  your  sentiments  upon  a  matter  of 
this  importance  exactly  coincides  with  the  doctor's  inclinations. 

"At  a  time  when  our  lordly  masters  in  Great  Britain  will  be 
satisfied  with  nothing  less  than  the  deprivation  of  American  free 
dom,  it  seems  highly  necessary  that  something  should  be  done  to 
avert  the  stroke,  and  maintain  the  liberty  which  we  have  derived 
from  our  ancestors.  But  the  manner  of  doing  it,  to  answer  the 
purpose  effectually,  is  the  point  in  question. 

"That  no  man  should  scruple,  or  hesitate  a  moment,  to  use 
arms  in  defence  of  so  valuable  a  blessing,  is  clearly  my  opinion, 
yet  arms,  I  would  beg  leave  to  add,  should  be  the  last  resource, 
the  dernier  ressort.  We  have  already,  it  is  said,  proved  the  ineffi- 
cacy  of  addresses  to  the  throne,  and  remonstrances  to  parliament. 
How  far,  then,  their  attention  to  our  rights  and  privileges  is  to  be 
awakened  or  alarmed,  by  starving  their  trade  and  manufacturers, 
remains  to  be  tried. 

"The  northern  colonies,  it  appears,  are  endeavouring  to  adopt 
this  scheme.  In  my  opinion  it  is  a  good  one,  and  must  be  at 
tended  with  salutary  effects,  provided  it  can  be  carried  generally 
into  execution.  But  to  what  extent  it  is  practicable  to  do  so,  I 

M 


134  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

will  not  take  upon  me  to  determine.  That  there  will  be  a  diffi 
culty  attending  the  execution  of  it  everywhere,  from  clashing  inte 
rests,  and  selfish,  designing  men,  ever  attentive  to  their  own  gain, 
and  watchful  of  every  turn  that  can  assist  their  lucrative  views, 
cannot  be  denied ;  and  in  the  tobacco  colonies,  where  trade  is  so 
diffused,  and  in  a  manner  wholly  conducted  by  factors  for  their 
principals  at  home,  [in  England,]  these  difficulties  are  certainly 
enhanced,  but  I  think  not  insurmountably  increased,  if  the  gentle 
men  in  their  several  counties  wrill  be  at  some  pains  to  explain 
matters  to  the  people,  and  stimulate  them  to  cordial  agreements 
to  purchase  none  but  certain  enumerated  articles  out  of  any  of  the 
stores  after  a  definite  period,  and  neither  import  nor  purchase  any 
themselves. 

"This,  if  it  should  not  effectually  withdraw  the  factors  from 
their  importations,  would  at  least  make  them  extremely  cautious 
in  doing  it,  as  the  prohibited  goods  could  be  vended  to  none  but 
the  non-associators,  or  those  who  would  pay  no  regard  to  their 
association  ;  both  of  whom  ought  to  be  stigmatized,  and  made 
the  objects  of  public  reproach. 

"The  more  I  consider  a  scheme  of  this  sort,  the  more  ardently 
I  wish  success  to  it,  because  I  think  there  are  private  as  well  as 
public  advantages  to  result  from  it ;  the  former,  certain,  however 
precarious  the  other  may  prove.  In  respect  to  the  latter,  I  have 
always  thought  that  by  virtue  of  the  same  power,  which  assumes 
the  right  of  taxation,  the  parliament  may  attempt  at  least  to 
restrain  our  manufactures,  especially  those  of  a  public  nature,  the 
same  equity  and  justice  prevailing  in  one  case  as  in  the  other,  it 
being  no  greater  hardship  to  forbid  my  manufacturing,  than  it  is 
to  order  me  to  buy  goods  loaded  with  duties,  for  the  express  pur 
pose  of  raising  a  revenue.  But  as  a  measure  of  this  sort  would 
be  an  additional  exertion  of  arbitrary  power,  we  cannot  be  placed 
in  a  worse  condition,  I  think,  by  putting  it  to  the  test. 

•  "On  the  other  hand,  that  the  colonies  are  considerably  indebted 
to  Great  Britain  is  a  truth  universally  acknowledged.  That  many 
families  are  reduced  almost,  if  not  quite,  to  penury  and  want  by 
the  low  ebb  of  their  fortunes,  and  that  estates  are  daily  selling  for 
the  discharge  of  debts,  the  public  papers  furnish  too  many  melan 
choly  proofs.  That  a  scheme  of  this  sort  will  contribute  more 
effectually  than  any  other  that  can  be  desired  to  extricate  the 
country  from  the  distress  it  at  present  labours  under,  I  most  firmly 
believe,  if  it  can  be  generally  adopted.  And  I  can  see  but  one 
class  of  people,  the  merchants  excepted,  who  will  not,  or  ought 


THE    NON-IMPORTATION    AGREEMENTS.         135 

not,  to  wish  well  to  the  scheme,  namely,  they  who  live  genteelly 
and  hospitably  on  clear  estates.  Such  as  these,  were  they  not  to 
consider  the  valuable  object  in  view,  and  the  good  of  others, 
might  think  it  hard  to  be  curtailed  in  their  living  and  enjoyments. 
As  to  the  penurious  man,  he  would  thereby  save  his  money  and 
his  credit,  having  the  best  plea  for  doing  that,  which  before,  per 
haps,  he  had  the  most  violent  struggles  to  refrain  from  doing. 
The  extravagant  and  expensive  man  has  the  same  good  plea  to 
retrench  his  expenses.  He  would  be  furnished  with  a  good  pre 
text  to  live  within  bounds,  and  would  embrace  it.  Prudence  dic 
tated  economy  before,  but  his  resolution  was  too  weak  to  put  it 
in  practice.  <  For  how  can  I,'  says  he,  <who  have  lived  in  such 
and  such  a  manner,  change  my  method  ?  I  am  ashamed  to  do  it, 
and,  besides,  such  an  alteration  in  the  system  of  my  living  will 
create  suspicions  of  the  decay  of  my  fortune,  and  such  a  thought 
the  world  must,  not  harbour.'  He  continues  his  course,  till  at  last 
his  estate  comes  to  an  end,  a  sale  of  it  being  the  consequence  of 
his  perseverance  in  error.  This,  I  am  satisfied,  is  the  way  that 
many,  who  have  set  out  in  the  wrong  track,  have  reasoned,  till 
ruin  has  stared  them  in  the  face.  And  in  respect  to  the  needy 
man,  he  is  only  left  in  the  same  situation  he  was  found  in,  better, 
I  may  say,  because,  as  he  judges  from  comparison,  his  condition 
is  amended  in  proportion  as  it  approaches  nearer  to  those  above 
him. 

"Upon  the  whole,  therefore,  I  think  the  scheme  a  good  one, 
and  that  it  ought  to  be  tried  here,  with  such  alterations  as  our 
circumstances  render  absolutely  necessary.  But  in  what  manner 
to  begin  the  work,  is  a  matter  worthy  of  consideration.  Whether 
it  can  be  attempted  with  propriety  or  efficacy,  further  than  a  com 
munication  of  sentiments  to  one  another  before  May,  when  the 
court  and  Assembly  will  meet  at  Williamsburg,  and  a  uniform 
plan  can  be  concerted,  and  sent  to  the  different  counties  to  operate 
at  the  same  time,  and  in  the  same  manner  everywhere,  is  a  thing 
upon  which  I  am  somewhat  in  doubt,  and  I  should  be  glad  to 
know  your  opinion." 

The  reply  of  Mr.  Mason  to  this  letter  of  Colonel  Washington 
may  safely  be  regarded  as  an  exposition  of  the  feelings  and  inten 
tions  of  the  great  mass  of  the  colonists. 

"I  entirely  agree  with  you,"  he  replies,  "that  no  regular  plan 
of  the  sort  proposed  can  be  entered  into  here,  before  the  meeting 
of  the  general  court  at  least,  if  not  of  the  Assembly.  In  the  mean 
time,  it  may  be  necessary  to  publish  something  preparatory  to  it  in 


136  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON.. 

our  gazettes,  to  warn  our  people  of  the  impending  danger,  and 
to  induce  them  the  more  readily  and  cheerfully  to  concur  in  the 
proper  measures  to  avert  it ;  and  something  of  this  sort  I  had  be 
gun,  but  am  unluckily  stopped  by  a  disorder  which  affects  my  head 
and  eyes.  As  soon  as  I  am  able,  I  shall  resume  it,  and  then  write 
you  more  fully,  or  endeavour  to  see  you.  In  the  mean  time,  pray 
commit  to  writing  such  hints  as  may  occur. 

"Our  all  is  at  stake,  and  the  little  conveniences  and  comforts 
of  life,  when  set  in  competition  with  our  liberty,  ought  to  be 
rejected,  not  with  reluctance,  but  with  pleasure.  Yet  it  is  plain, 
that  in  the  tobacco  colonies  we  cannot  at  present  confine  our  im 
portations  within  such  narrow  bounds  as  the  northern  colonies. 
A  plan  of  this  kind,  to  be  practicable,  must  be  adapted  to  our  cir 
cumstances,  for  if  not  steadily  executed  it  had  better  have  remained 
unattempted.  We  may  retrench  all  manner  of  superfluities,  finery 
of  all  descriptions,  and  confine  ourselves  to  linens,  woollens,  &c., 
not  exceeding  a  certain  price.  It  is  amazing  how  much  this  prac 
tice,  if  adopted  in  all  the  colonies,  would  lessen  the  American 
imports,  and  distress  the  various  traders  and  manufacturers  in 
Great  Britain. 

"This  would  awaken  their  attention.  They  would  see,  they 
would  feel  the  oppressions  we  groan  under,  and  exert  themselves,  to 
procure  us  redress.  This  once  obtained,  we  should  no  longer  dis 
continue  our  importations,  confining  ourselves  still  not  to  import  any 
articles  that  should  hereafter  be  taxed  by  act  of  parliament  for  raising 
revenue  in  America ;  for,  however  singular  I  may  be  in  my  opinion, 
I  am  thoroughly  convinced,  that,  justice  and  harmony  happily 
restored,  it  is  not  the  interest  of  these  colonies  to  refuse  British 
manufactures.  Our  supplying  our  mother  country  with  gross 
materials,  and  taking  her  manufactures  in  return,  is  the  true  chain 
of  connection  between  us.  These  are  the  bands,  which,  if  not 
broken  by  oppression,  must  long  hold  us  together,  by  maintaining 
a  constant  reciprocation  of  interest.  Proper  caution  should,  there 
fore,  be  used  in  drawing  up  the  proposed  plan  of  association.  It 
may  not  be  amiss  to  let  the  ministry  understand,  that,  until  we 
obtain  a  redress  of  grievances,  we  will  withhold  from  them  our 
commodities,  and  particularly  refrain  from  making  tobacco,  by 
which  the  revenue  would  lose  fifty  times  more  than  all  their 
oppressions  could  raise  here. 

"Had  the  hints  which  I  have  given  with  regard  to  taxation  of 
goods  imported  into  America,  been  thought  of  by  our  merchants 


THE    NON-IMPORTATION    AGREEMENT.          137 

before  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  the  late  American  revenue  acts 
would  probably  never  have  been  attempted." 

Mr.  Mason  drew  up  a  series  of  resolutions,  otherwise  called 
associations,  or  non-importation  agreements,  which  he,  not  being 
a  member  of  the  Assembly,  gave  to  Colonel  Washington,  who 
carried  them  with  him  to  Williamsburg,  whither  he  went  in  May, 
to  attend  to  his  duty  as  a  member  of  the  House  of  Burgesses. 
That  body  had  been  in  session  only  a  few  days  when  they  passed 
a  series  of  strong  resolutions,  asserting  their  rights  alone  to  impose 
taxes  upon  the  people  of  the  province  of  Virginia ;  and  declaring 
that  it  was  the  privilege  of  the  inhabitants  to  request  the  other 
colonies  to  unite  with  them  in  petitioning  the  king  for  a  redress 
of  grievances.  They  also  prepared  a  petition  to  the  king,  remon 
strating  in  strong  and  feeling  language  against  the  execution  of 
the  old  law,  by  which  persons  accused  of  any  crime  whatever 
might  be  seized,  and  sent  to  places  beyond  the  seas  to  be  tried. 

Lord  Botetourt,  the  governor  of  Virginia,  being  informed  of 
the  proceedings  of  the  house,  immediately  dissolved  the  Assembly. 
As  soon  as  the  burgesses  left  the  public  hall,  they  met  at  a  private 
house,  and  choosing  their  late  speaker,  Peyton  Randolph,  mode 
rator,  adopted,  with  a  slight  modification,  the  agreement  which 
had  been  drawn  up  by  George  Mason,  and  intrusted  by  him  for 
presentation  and  support  to  Colonel  Washington.  These  resolu 
tions  against  the  importation  of  any  articles  that  were  taxed  by 
the  parliament  of  Great  Britain  were  signed  by  every  member  of 
the  Assembly  present,  and  then  sent  through  the  country  for  the 
signatures  of  the  people. 

That  Washington  was  sincere  in  the  support  of  the  principles 
which  were  now  generally  adopted  by  his  countrymen,  will  be 
clearly  seen  from  the  following  extract  from  a  letter  to  his  London 
correspondent,  in  sending  out  his  customary  orders: — "You  will 
perceive,  in  looking  over  the  several  invoices,  that  some  of  the 
goods  there  required  are  upon  condition  that  the  act  of  parliament, 
imposing  a  duty  on  tea,  paper,  &c.,  for  the  purpose  of  raising  a 
revenue  in  America,  is  totally  repealed,  and  I  beg  the  favour  of  you 
to  be  governed  strictly  thereby,  as  it  will  not  be  in  my  power  to 
receive  any  articles  contrary  to  our  non-importation  agreement, 
which  I  have  subscribed,  and  shall  religiously  adhere  to,  and 
should,  if  it  were  as  I  could  wish  it  to  be,  ten  times  as  strict." 

Thus  did  Washington  heartily  join  with  the  colonists  in  every 
measure  of  opposition  to  the  encroachments  of  the  British  ministry 
from  1769,  until,  in  1773,  more  active  and  warlike  proceedings 
18  w2 


138  LIFE  OF  WASHINGTON. 

were  required  by  America  from  all  her  children.  While  engaged 
in  the  House  of  Burgesses  in  resisting  the  claim  of  Great  Britain 
to  tax  the  colonies  at  pleasure,  and  during  the  recesses  of  the 
Assembly,  at  his  plough,  he  did  not  forget  his  old  friends,  the  offi 
cers  and  soldiers  who  had  served  with  him  in  the  French  War. 
Governor  Dinwiddie,  as  a  reward  for  their  services,  had  promised 
these  men  two  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land  on  the  Ohio.  This 
claim  was  long  opposed,  first  by  the  English  ministry,  and  after 
wards  by  the  authorities  of  Virginia,  and  it  was  only  by  the  un 
wearied  exertions  of  Washington,  that  the  matter  was  finally,  in 
1773  or  1774,  adjusted. 

Washington  even  undertook  a  journey,  in  the  autumn  of  the  year 
1770,  for  the  express  purpose  of  selecting  such  tracts  of  land  as 
would  be  most  valuable  to  the  future  owners,  when  the  govern 
ment  should  think  fit  to  fulfil  its  pledge  to  his  fellow-soldiers. 
Some  months  afterwards,  Lord  Dunmore,  then  governor  of  the  pro 
vince,  solicited  his  company  in  an  excursion  to  the  western  country, 
and  Washington  began  his  preparations  for  once  more  visiting  the 
scenes  of  his  early  renown.  The  death  of  Mrs.  Washington's 
only  daughter,  however,  prevented  him  from  accompanying  the 
governor. 

The  crisis  of  the  Revolution  was  now  fast  approaching.  Already 
had  blood  been  shed  in  the  sacred  cause  of  liberty.  The  two  royal, 
regiments  stationed  at  Boston,  had,  from  the  first,  been  a  source  of 
constant  annoyance  to  the  inhabitants.  Frequent  quarrels  arose  be 
tween  them  and  the  townsmen ;  and  at  length,  on  the  5th  of  March, 
1770,  an  affray  took  place  in  which  a  party  of  soldiers  fired  upon  their 
opponents,  and  four  men  were  killed.  The  alarm-bells  were  imme 
diately  rung,  a  mob  assembled,  who  became  infuriated  at  the  sight  of 
the  dead  bodies,  and  far  more  serious  mischief  might  have  been  the 
result,  had  not  the  lieutenant-governor  assured  them,  that  the  law 
should  be  strictly  enforced  on  the  perpetrators  of  the  offence. 
Accordingly,  Captain  Preston,  who  had  commanded,  and  several 
soldiers  who  had  fired,  were  brought  to  trial ;  on  which  occasion 
Mr.  Quincy  and  Mr.  Adams,  two  of  the  most  zealous  patriots, 
actuated  by  a  sincere  regard  to  justice,  undertook  the  defence. 
The  accused  were  honourably  acquitted,  it  having  been  proved 
that  the  people  first  insulted  the  soldiers,  and  then  commenced  an 
attack,  while  the  officer  made  every  exertion  to  prevent  the  catastro 
phe.  Such  urgent  representations,  however,  were  now  made  by 
the  council  and  the  citizens,  that  the  commander  agreed  to  remove 


GOVERNOR    HUTCHINSON'S    LETTER.          139 

the  troops,  quartering   them  in  Castle  William   and  in   barracks 
erected  near  it. 

At  this  time  public  indignation  was  excited  against  Governor 
Hutchinson,  and  Oliver  the  lieutenant-governor  of  Massachusetts, 
in  consequence  of  the  publication  of  letters  written  by  them  to  a 
secretary  of  the  treasury  in  England.  These  letters,  which  had 
been  transmitted  to  Boston  by  Dr.  Franklin,  contained  a  strong 
reprobation  of  the  course  pursued  by  the  popular  leaders,  and 
recommendations  that  they  should  be  put  down  at  once,  by  co 
ercive  measures  if  necessary.  Such  was  the  public  resentment 
excited  by  the  publication  of  these  letters,  that  the  government 
chose  rather  to  recall  Hutchinson,  and  appoint  General  Gage  as 
his  successor,  than  run  the  risk  of  submitting  to  the  fury  of  the 
populace.* 

*  The  following  account  of  the  affair  of  the  letters  is  from  the  Pictorial  History  of 
England  : — 

«  Before  these  proceedings,  and  even  before  the  arrival  of  the  intelligence  of  the  tea 
riot,  Dr.  Franklin,  the  agent  for  the  colony  or  house  of  representatives  of  Massachu 
setts,  had  met  with  a  severe  castigation  from  the  sharp  tongue  of  a  crown  lawyer,  for 
his  conduct  in  the  affair  of  the  letters.  That  affair,  moreover,  had  led  to  bloodshed  in 
England,  for  a  duel  had  been  fought  in  Hyde  Park,  between  Mr.  Whately,  banker  in 
Lombard  street,  and  brother  to  Mr.  Thomas  Whately,  late  secretary  to  the  treasury, 
and  member  for  Castle  Rising,  and  Mr.  (afterwards  Sir)  John  Temple,  lieutenant- 
governor  of  New  Hampshire ;  and  the  unfortunate  banker  had  been  dangerously 
wounded.  Upon  this  event,  which  caused  considerable  excitement,  Franklin  wrote 
and  published  a  letter,  declaring  that  neither  Mr.  Whately  nor  the  lieutenant-governor 
of  New  Hampshire  had  any  thing  to  do  with  the  mischievous  letters,  and  that  both  of 
them  were  totally  ignorant  and  innocent  of  that  transaction.  'I  think  it  incumbent 
on  me,'  wrote  Franklin,  <  to  declare,  for  the  prevention  of  further  mischief,  that  I  alone 
am  the  person  who  obtained  and  transmitted  to  Boston  the  letters  in  question.  Mr. 
Whately  could  not  communicate  them,  because  they  were  never  in  his  possession; 
and,  for  the  same  reason,  they  could  not  have  been  taken  from  him  by  Mr.  Temple. 
They  were  not  of  the  nature  of  private  letters  between  friends ;  they  were  written  by 
public  officers  to  persons  in  public  stations,  on  public  affairs,  and  intended  to  procure 
public  measures ;  they  were,  therefore,  handed  to  other  public  persons,  who  might  be 
influenced  by  them  to  produce  those  measures :  their  tendency  was  to  incense  the 
mother  country  against  her  colonies,  and,  by  the  steps  recommended,  to  widen  the 
breach,  which  they  effected.  The  chief  caution  expressed  with  regard  to  privacy  was, 
to  keep  their  contents  from  the  colony  agents,  who,  the  writers  apprehended,  might 
return  them,  or  copies  of  them,  to  America.  That  apprehension  was,  it  seems,  well 
founded ;  for  the  first  agent  who  laid  his  hands  on  them  thought  it  his  duty  to  trans 
mit  them  to  his  constituents.' 

"  This  letter  was  signed  <  B.  Franklin,  agent  for  the  house  of  representatives  of  Mas 
sachusetts  Bay,'  and  was  dated  Craven  street,  December  25th,  1773.  As  a  matter 
of  course,  it  left  in  mystery  the  means  by  which  the  philosopher  had  got  possession  of 
the  letters.  But  the  secret  has  since  transpired.  <  It  is  only  within  these  seven  years,' 
says  the  writer  of  the  History  of  the  American  Revolution,  published  by  the  Society  for 
the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge,  in  1830,  'that  it  has  been  ascertained  that  Go 
vernor  Hutchinson's  letters  were  put  into  Franklin's  hands  by  a  Dr.  Williamson,  who, 
without  any  suggestion  on  his  part,  had  procured  them  by  stratagem  from  the  office 
where  they  had  been  deposited.  This  curious  fact  is  stated,  with  many  particulars,  in 
a  Memoir  of  Dr.  Williamson,  by  Dr.  Hosack  of  New  York.' 

"  On  Saturday,  the  29th  of  January,  Franklin,  with  Mr.  Dunning  as  counsel  to  speak 


140  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  other  colonies  were  not  undisturbed.  In 
Rhode  Island,  the  revenue  schooner  Gaspee  was  seized  and  burned 
with  all  her  cargo.  A  special  commission,  appointed  to  inquire 
into  the  matter  and  try  the  offenders,  found  it  impossible  to  pro 
cure  any  evidence.  We  have  already  seen  that  the  legislature  of 
Virginia  was  alarmed  by  the  rumor  that  the  plan  of  transporting 
accused  persons  to  Britain  for  trial  was  to  be  adopted.  In  March, 
1773,  they  appointed  a  standing  committee  of  correspondence 
and  inquiry,  with  instructions  to  communicate  with  the  other 
colonies,  a  measure  which  met  with  their  zealous  co-operation. 

While    the    colonies  were   in  this    state,  seemingly  balancing 

to  the  Bostonian  petition  for  the  removal  of  the  governor  and  lieutenant-governor, 
which  petition  was  got  up  in  consequence  of  the  letters  he  had  transmitted,  appeared 
before  the  privy  council,  where  thirty-five  lords  were  assembled,  besides  those  in  office. 
Wedderburn,  the  solicitor-general,  attended  as  counsel  for  the  governor.  Mr.  Dunning 
having  asked,  on  the  part  of  his  clients,  the  reason  of  being  ordered  to  attend,  and  having 
spoken  shortly  on  the  general  object  of  the  petition,  was  replied  to  by  Wedderburn, 
whose  naturally  sharp  tongue  was  made  sharper  on  this  occasion  by  his  friendship  and 
sympathy  for  Mr.  Whately,  the  banker,  who  was  at  that  moment  lying  between  life 
and  death.  After  entering  largely  into  the  constitution  and  temper  of  the  province  of 
Massachusetts,  he  concluded  with  a  most  scurrilous  invective  against  the  double  dealing 
and  malice  of  Franklin.  According  tft  another  great  philosopher,  (Priestley,)  whose 
sympathy  with  Franklin  and  his  cause  was  perfect,  and  whose  affection  for  his  native 
country  had  been  nearly  extinguished  at  the  time  he  wrote,  by  a  popular  and  brutal 
persecution — '  Mr.  Wedderburn  had  a  complete  triumph:  at  the  sallies  of  his  sarcastic 
wit,  all  the  members  of  the  council,  the  president  himself  (Lord  Gower)  not  excepted, 
frequently  laughed  outright ;  and  no  person  belonging  to  the  council  behaved  with 
decent  gravity,  except  Lord  North,  who  came  in  late.'  The  Earl  of  Shelburne,  who 
conveyed  to  Chatham  an  ample  account  of  what  passed,  taxes  Wedderburn  with  vio 
lence  and  indecency  of  language ;  but  he  does  not  mention  that  the  members  of  the 
council  misbehaved  themselves  so  grossly.  It  was  no  laughing  matter:  Wedderburn 
was  no  buffoon,  and  his  invective  was  calculated  to  arouse  the  violent  passions,  to  pro 
voke  any  thing  rather  than  laughter.  It  concluded  with  this  indignant  burst  of  feel 
ing: — 'Amidst  tranquil  events,  here  is  a  man  who,  with  the  utmost  insensibility  of 
remorse,  stands  up  and  avows  himself  the  author  of  all.  I  can  compare  him  only  to 
Zanga,  in  Dr.  Young's  Revenge: — 

" Know,  then,  'twas  I. 

I  forged  the  letter — I  dispos'd  the  picture — 
I  hated — I  despis'd^-and  I  destroy !" 

I  ask,  my  lords,  whether  the  revengeful  temper  attributed  to  the  bloody  African  is  not 
surpassed  by  the  coolness  and  apathy  of  the  wily  American  ]'  Whatever  may  have 
been  the  effect  upon  the  members  of  the  council,  the  invective  sunk  deep  into  the  soul 
of  Franklin.  It  is  said  that  he  controlled  his  feelings  in  that  presence,  standing  in  a 
corner  of  the  room  without  the  least  apparent  emotion ;  but  it  is  added,  that,  when  he 
got  back  to  his  lodgings,  he  took  off  the  suit  of  clothes  he  had  worn,  and  vowed  he 
would  never  wear  it  again  until  he  should  sign  the  degradation  of  England  and  the 
independence  of  America.  On  the  following  morning  he  is  said  to  have  told  a  friend 
who  breakfasted  with  him,  that  he  had  never  before  been  so  sensible  of  the  power  of  a 
good  conscience ;  that  he  had  been  accused  of  clandestinely  procuring  the  letters,  and 
sending  them  to  America  with  a  view  to  excite  animosities  and  embroil  the  two  coun 
tries  ;  but  that,  in  fact,  he  did  not  even  know  that  such  letters  existed,  till  they  were 
brought  to  him  as  agent  of  the  colony,  in  order  to  be  sent  to  his  constituents.  He 
never  would  name  the  person  from  whom  he  got  the  letters,  but  said,  some  time  after, 
that  he  had  received  them  from  a  gentleman  that  was  since  dead." 


THE    TEA    DUTY.  141 

between  patriotism  and  right  on  the  one  hand,  and  loyalty  and 
submission  on  the  other,  a  new  scheme  entered  the  mind  of 
Lord  North,  as  if  to  hasten  on  the  great  catastrophe  by  which 
Britain  was  in  a  few  years  to  be  deprived  of  the  brightest  gems 
in  her  diadem.  In  consequence  of  the  pertinacious  and  suc 
cessful  exclusion  of  tea  from  the  American  colonies,  that  article 
had  accumulated  in  the  warehouses  of  the  East  India  Company. 
It  was  accordingly  proposed  that  the  British  duty  of  a  shilling 
a  pound  should  be  drawn  back  on  the  importation  of  the  article 
into  America,  where  a  duty  of  only  three  pence  was  to  be  im 
posed.  The  colonists,  who  would  thus  procure  it  cheaper  than 
the  English,  might,  it  was  thought,  be  gently  manoeuvred  out 
of  the  principle  for  which  they  so  obstinately  contended.  It 
was  almost  madness  to  renew  in  any  shape  a  contest  in  which 
the  government  had  been  so  repeatedly  worsted ;  though  this 
was  really  a  small  measure  to  issue  in  a  vast  rebellion, — a 
slender  spark  to  kindle  such  a  mighty  conflagration.  We  must 
also  again  reproach  the  parliamentary  friends  of  America,  that 
they  sounded  no  note  of  alarm,  and  this  momentous  vote  passed 
in  the  usual  silent  and  unregarded  manner. 

The  intelligence,  when  it  reached  the  colonies,  strongly  roused 
the  determination  of  the  popular  leaders.  They  were  sensible,  as 
is  admitted  by  all  their  advocates,  that  if  the  tea  were  once  landed 
and  offered  for  sale  at  the  cheap  rate  which  these  arrangements 
allowed,  nothing  could  prevent  its  being  bought  and  consumed ;  a 
circumstance  which  by  no  means  indicates  a  very  fervid  zeal 
among  the  mass  of  the  people.  Large  vessels,  however,  were 
already  crossing  the  Atlantic,  laden  with  this  commodity,  the  intro 
duction  of  which,  on  so  extensive  a  scale,  would  completely  break 
up  their  grand  principle  of  non-taxation.  They  therefore  deter 
mined  to  exert  their  utmost  efforts  to  prevent  the  landing ;  and 
possessing  a  paramount  influence  in  the  mercantile  ports,  extorted 
a  promise  from  the  consigners  to  refuse  it,  and  thus  oblige  the 
vessels  to  carry  back  their  lading.  Unfortunately,  the  agents  at 
Boston  rejected  this  demand,  and  appealed  to  the  governor,  who 
promised  protection;  but  a  mob  was  quickly  collected,  their 
houses  were  broken  into,  and  themselves  compelled  to  take  refuge 
in  Castle  William.  On  the  other  hand,  the  governor  and  custom 
house  officers  even  refused  to  permit  the  vessels  which  had  arrived 
to  depart  without  landing  the  tea.  A  general  meeting  of  the 
inhabitants  was  then  called,  when  resolutions  were  entered  into  to 
oppose  the  landing  of  the  tea ;  and  a  guard  was  appointed,  who 


142  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

watched  night  and  day  to  prevent  any  portion  of  the  cargo  from 
being  sent  ashore.  Some  time  after,  another  great  assemblage 
met  at  Faneuil  Hall,  where  one  party  recommended  moderate 
measures ;  but  the  majority  discovered  a  violent  spirit,  and  some 
undoubtedly  desired  to  urge  on  steps  which  might  issue  in  a  total 
rupture.  Mr.  Quincy  warned  them,  that  a  spirit  was  now  neces 
sary,  different  from  any  hitherto  displayed  ;  they  were  advancing 
to  "measures  which  must  bring  on  the  most  trying  and  terrible 
struggle  this  country  ever  saw. ' '  The  captain  of  one  of  the  tea-ships, 
who  now  sought  to  extricate  himself  from  the.  affair,  was  allowed  to 
make  a  last  application  to  the  governor  for  permission  to  depart ; 
but  having  returned  and  reported  a  refusal,  the  meeting  separated. 
Immediately  after,  the  harbour  was  thronged  by  a  vast  multitude, 
seventeen  of  whom,  disguised  as  Mohawk  Indians,  went  on  board 
the  ships,  took  full  possession  of  them,  and  deliberately  emptied 
the  whole  of  their  cargoes  into  the  sea. 

This  daring  outrage  hurried  affairs  to  a  crisis.  On  the  intelli 
gence  arriving  in  England,  the  determination  was  immediately 
formed  to  proceed  to  extreme  measures.  These  were  not  akin  to 
Lord  North's  disposition ;  but  he  was  probably  goaded  on  by 
others,  reproached  for  his  previous  concessions,  and  keenly  sen 
sible  to  this  total  failure  of  his  own  favourite  scheme.  Now, 
he  said,  was  our  time  to  stand  out,  to  defy  them,  to  proceed  with 
firmness,  and  without  fear.  Boston  was  the  centre  whence  all  the 
present  disorders  emanated.  It  had  been  the  ringleader  in  every 
riot,  and  set  always  the  example  which  others  only  followed.  To 
inflict  a  signal  penalty  on  this  city  would  be  to  strike  at  the  root 
of  the  evil.  He  quoted  several  instances,  as  the  murder  of  Dr. 
Lamb  in  London,  under  Charles  II.,  and  the  execution  of  Captain 
Porteous  by  the  Edinburgh  mob,  in  which  a  whole  city  had  been 
punished  for  an  offence  committed  by  a  large  body  of  its  inhabit 
ants.  It  was  proposed,  therefore,  that  the  port  of  Boston  should 
be  closed,  and  no  goods  allowed  to  be  either  shipped  or  landed. 
This  interdict  was  to  continue,  till  the  citizens  should  express  a 
due  sense  of  their  error,  and  make  full  compensation  to  the  company ; 
when  the  crown,  if  it  should  see  sufficient  reason,  might  restore 
its  lost  privileges.  This  motion,  so  big  with  war  and  disaster, 
when  made  to  the  House  of  Commons,  met  with  such  eager  con 
currence,  that  the  very  few  who  attempted  opposition  could  not 
without  extreme  difficulty  obtain  a  hearing.  Alderman  Sawbridge 
was  obliged  to  tell  them  that  though  he  could  not  speak  long,  he 
could  sit  long.  Even  Colonel  Barre,  the  standing  advocate  of 


THE    BOSTON    PORT    BILL.  143 

America,  said  he  approved  of  this  measure  for  its  moderation. 
Some  zealous  supporters  of  authority  indulged  the  most  imprudent 
violence  in  invective  against  the  Americans.  Mr.  Herbert  de 
scribed  them  as  a  strange  set  of  people,  from  whom  it  was  in  vain 
to  expect  any  degree  of  reasoning ;  they  always  chose  tarring  and 
feathering.  Mr.  Montague,  second  son  of  Lord  Sandwich,  attri 
buted  their  boldness  to  the  tame  councils,  the  weak  and  unmanly 
character  of  ministers,  who  allowed  themselves  to  be  swayed  by  a 
faction  seeking  popularity  by  clamour,  and  composed  of  "the 
vilest  excrement  of  the  earth."  Mr.  Van  drew  still  greater  atten 
tion,  by  declaring  that  the  port  ought  to  be  knocked  about  their 
ears  and  destroyed,  adding  the  quotation,  "  delenda  est  Car 
thago." 

The  second  reading  passed  without  a  division ;  but  a  petition 
was  then  presented  by  the  lord  mayor,  from  a  number  of  American 
settlers  resident  in  London.  It  urged  that  the  citizens  of  Boston 
had  not  been  heard  in  their  own  defence,  nor  redress  sought  at 
common  law.  The  place  was  not  walled,  nor  held  by  any  executive 
power,  and  the  offence  had  not  even  been  committed  within  its 
limits.  They  proceeded  in  very  bold  language  to  observe  that 
the  attachment  of  their  countrymen  could  not  survive  the  justice 
of  Great  Britain,  a  violation  of  which  might  extinguish  the  filial 
sentiments  hitherto  cherished.  Some  opposition  was  now  mus 
tered,  Mr.  Fuller  proposing  merely  the  imposition  of  a  fine.  Mr. 
Burke  began  that  series  of  splendid  orations,  which  he  devoted  to 
the  cause  of  American  liberty.  He  denounced  this  confounding 
of  the  innocent  and  the  guilty,  and  expressed  his  heartfelt  sorrow 
at  the  general  aspect  of  affairs  ;.  the  universal  resistance  of  all 
America ;  one  town  in  proscription,  the  rest  in  rebellion ;  not  a 
port  on  its  coast  where  goods  could  be  landed  and  vended.  The 
consequences  would  be  dreadful,  nay,  he  was  afraid,  destructive ; 
and  he  gave  the  prophetic  warning,  that  ministers  would  draw 
upon  themselves  a  foreign  enemy  at  a  time  they  little  expected. 
Two  former  governors,  Johnstone  and  Pownall,  expressed  them 
selves  earnestly  in  favour  of  the  Americans  ;  the  former  declaring 
he  had  advised  the  company  against  sending  the  tea,  and  was  sure 
the  affair  would  issue  in  rebellion.  The  latter  excited  the  laughter 
of  the  house,  by  extolling  the  people  for  their  love  of  order  and 
peace.  But  it  is  remarkable,  that  none  of  their  advocates  now 
disputed  the  right  of  taxation.  Mr.  Dowdeswell  referred  to  a  time 
when  this  had  been  doubted  by  persons  of  great  knowledge  ;  now 
there  was  no  such  opinion ;  the  policy  only  was  questioned.  It 


144  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

is  remarkable  that  Mr.  Fox,  on  this  occasion,  made  his  first  appear 
ance  in  parliamentary  life,  by  objecting  to  the  power  vested  in  the 
crown  of  re-opening  the  port;  a  suggestion  which  was  not  sup 
ported  by  either  party. 

The  bill  passed  without  a  division.  In  th§  House  of  Lords, 
however,  it  encountered  a  stronger  opposition  from  certain  noble 
men  of  eminence  and  talent,  particularly  Rockingham,  Shelburne, 
and  Richmond  ;  but  the  debates  have  not  been  preserved,  and  it 
passed  finally  without  any  protest. 

General  Gage,  the  governor,  was  directed  to  transfer  his  resi 
dence  to  Salem,  along  with  the  custom-house,  and  all  the  courts 
which  were  by  law  removable.  But  he  arrived  at  a  most  inaus 
picious  moment;  the  Boston  port  bill  having  just  preceded  him. 
He  was  received  with  the  ordinary  marks  of  respect,  while,  at  the 
same  time,  a  hope  was  expressed,  that  his  government  might  pre 
sent  a  contrast  to  that  of  his  predecessor. 

The  day  after  the  arrival  of  the  new  governor,  a  town  meeting 
was  called  to  deliberate  on  the  tenor  of  the  Boston  port  bill,  at 
which  resolutions  were  passed,  recommending  the  immediate 
renunciation  of  all  commercial  intercourse  with  Britain  and  the 
West  Indies  until  the  repeal  of  the  act.  "The  impolicy,  injustice, 
inhumanity,  and  cruelty  of  this  act,"  they  declared,  "exceed  all 
our  powers  of  expression.  We  therefore  leave  it  to  the  just  censure 
of  others,  and  appeal  to  God  and  the  world."  Mr.  Quincy  pub 
lished  a  paper,  in  which  he  said:  "A  whole  people  are  accused, 
prosecuted  by  they  know  not  whom,  tried  they  know  not  where, 
proved  guilty,  they  know  not  how,  and  sentenced  to  suffer  inevit 
able  ruin."  Reports  of  this  meeting,  together  with  copies  of  the 
new  act,  were  immediately  sent  to  all  the  provincial  Assemblies. 

A  feeling  of  indignation  at  the  conduct  of  the  government,  and 
sympathy  with  the  people  of  Boston,  spread  with  incredible  rapidity 
throughout  the  continent.  'The  legislative  Assembly  of  Virginia 
was  in  session  when  the  intelligence  of  the  Boston  port  bill  reached 
that  province.  They  immediately  appointed  the  first  of  June,  the 
day  on  which  the  operation  of  the  bill  was  to  commence,  to  be  set 
apart  as  a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation  and  prayer,  in  order  "devoutly 
to  implore  the  divine  interposition  to  avert  the  heavy  calamity  which 
threatened  destruction  to  their  civil  rights,  and  the  evils  of  a  civil 
war ;  and  to  give  them  one  heart  and  one  mind  firmly  to  oppose,  by 
all  just  and  proper  means,  every  injury  to  American  rights."  When 
Lord  Dunmore,  who  had  been  recently  appointed  to  supersede  the 
popular  Lord  Botetourt  as  governor  of  Virginia,  heard  of  this  pro- 


OPINIONS    OF    WASHINGTON.  145 

ceeding,  he  immediately  dissolved  the  Assembly ;  but  before  their 
separation,  eighty-nine  of  the  members  signed  a  declaration,  in 
which  they  declared  that  "  an  attack  made  upon  one  of  our  sister 
colonies  to  compel  submission  to  arbitrary  taxes  is  an  attack  made 
upon  all  British  America,  and  threatens  ruin  to  the  rights  of  all, 
unless  the  united  wisdom  of  the  whole  be  applied."  They  also 
instructed  the  committee  of  correspondence  to  propose  to  similar 
committees  in  the  other  colonies  the  appointment  of  delegates  to  a 
general  congress,  to  meet  annually,  in  order  to  watch  over  the 
general  interests  of  the  whole  people. 

The  opinions  of  Colonel  Washington,  if  further  proof  of  them 
than  the  proceedings  of  a  public  body  of  which  he  was  a  member 
be  required,  may  be  learned  from  a  letter  written  at  the  time  to 
Bryan  Fairfax,  who  was  strongly  opposed  to  violent  measures, 
and  anxious  that  time  should  be  given  for  the  repeal  of  the  obnox 
ious  acts.  In  the  course  of  the  letter,  Washington  writes  : 

"As  to  your  political  sentiments,  I  would  heartily  join  you  in 
them,  so  far  as  relates  to  an  humble  and  dutiful  petition  to  the  throne, 
provided  there  was  the  most  distant  hope  of  success.  But  have  we 
not  tried  this  already  ?  Have  we  not  addressed  the  Lords,  and 
remonstrated  to  the  Commons  ?  And  to  what  end  ?  Did  they 
deign  to  look  at  our  petitions  ?  Does  it  not  appear  as  clear  as  the 
sun  in  its  meridian  brightness,  that  there  is  a  regular,  systematic 
plan  formed  to  fix  the  right  and  practice  of  taxation  upon  us  ?  Does 
not  the  uniform  conduct  of  parliament  for  some  years  past  confirm 
this  ?  Do  not  all  the  debates,  especially  those  just  brought  to  us, 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  on  the  side  of  government,  expressly 
declare  that  America  must  be  taxed  in  aid  of  the  British  funds,  and 
that  she  has  no  longer  resources  \vithin  herself?  Is  there  anything 
to  be  expected  from  petitioning  after  this  ?  Is  not  the  attack  upon 
the  liberty  and  property  of  the  people  of  Boston,  before  restitution 
of  the  loss  to  the  India  Company  was  demanded,  a  plain  and  self- 
evident  proof  of  what  they  are  aiming  at  ?  Do  not  the  subsequent 
bills  (now  I  dare  say  acts)  for  depriving  the  Massachusetts  Bay  of 
its  charter,  and  for  transporting  offenders  into  other  colonies  or  to 
Great  Britain  for  trial,  where  it  is  impossible  from  the  nature  of  the 
thing  that  justice  can  be  obtained,  convince  us  that  the  administra 
tion  is  determined  to  stick  at  nothing  to  carry  its  point  ?  Ought  we 
not,  then,  to  put  our  virtue  and  fortitude  to  the  severest  test  ? 

"With  you  I  think  it  a  folly  to  attempt  more  than  we  can  execute, 
as  that  will  not  only  bring  disgrace  upon  us,  but  weaken  our  cause ; 
yet  I  think  we  may  do  more  than  is  generally  believed,  in  respect 
19  N 


146  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

to  the  non-importation  scheme.  As  to  the  withholding  of  our  remit 
tances,  that  is  another  point,  in  which  I  own  I  have  my  doubts  on 
several  accounts,  but  principally  on  that  of  justice ;  for  I  think, 
while  we  are  accusing  others  of  injustice,  we  should  be  just  our 
selves  ;  and  how  this  can  be,  whilst  we  owe  a  considerable  debt, 
and  refuse  payment  of  it  to  Great  Britain,  is  to  me  inconceivable. 
Nothing  but  the  last  extremity,  I  think,  can  justify  it.  Whether 
this  is  now  come  is  the  question." 

The  conjectures  expressed  in  this  letter  were  speedily  realized. 
An  act  soon  arrived,  by  which  the  charter  of  the  province  of  Mas 
sachusetts  Bay  was  nullified,  and  the  appointment  of  all  magistrates 
and  officers  of  every  kind  vested  in  the  crown.  This  act  was 
speedily  followed  by  another,  professing  to  secure  the  impartial 
administration  of  justice  in  the  province,  which  provided,  "That 
in  case  any  person  should  be  indicted  in  that  province  for  murder, 
or  any  other  capital  offence,  and  it  should  appear  by  information 
given  on  oath  to  the  governor  that  the  fact  was  committed  in  the 
exercise  and  aid  of  magistracy  in  suppressing  riots,  and  that  a  fair 
trial  could  not  be  had  in  the  province,  he  should  send  the  person  so 
indicted  to  any  other  colony,  or  to  Great  Britain  to  be  tried." 

In  the  mean  time  the  General  Assembly  of  Massachusetts  met 
on  the  31st  of  May,  and  were  immediately  adjourned  by  the 
governor  to  meet  at  Salem  on  the  7th  of  June.  Having  there 
organized,  they  proceeded  to  revive  a  project  formerly  proposed 
by  them  and  lately  suggested  by  the  legislature  of  Virginia.  They 
accordingly  declared  a  general  congress  of  delegates  from  all  the 
provinces  to  be  highly  expedient,  and  necessary  to  concert  mea 
sures  for  the  recovery  of  the  just  rights  and  liberties  of  Americans, 
and  "for  the  restoration  of  that  union  and  harmony  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  colonies,  most  ardently  desired  by  all  good  men." 
In  order  to  carry  out  this  resolution,  a  committee  of  five  of  the 
most  distinguished  patriots  of  Massachusetts  was  elected  to  meet 
the  delegates  which  might  be  sent  from  the  other  colonies,  at 
Philadelphia,  in  the  month  of  September.  Apprised  of  their  pro 
ceedings,  General  Gage  sent  his  secretary  to  dissolve  the  Assembly ; 
but  they  kept  the  door  of  the  room,  in  which  they  met,  locked  until 
these  measures  were  completed. 

The  effect  of  the  tyranical  acts  of  the  British  parliament  upon 
the  town  of  Boston,  was  most  calamitous.  Silent  streets,  deserted 
arsenals,  closed  warehouses,  unemployed  workmen  and  starving 
families,  testified  that  the  spirit  of  commercial  industry  had  taken 
its  departure.  At  the  same  time,  the  sympathy  of  their  fellow- 


ARBITRARY    PROCEEDINGS    IN  BOSTON.        147 

countrymen  contributed  materially  to  mitigate  their  sufferings,  and 
evinced  itself  in  acts  of  disinterested  patriotism,  of  which  old 
Rome  would  have  been  proud.  The  Boston  port  bill,  instead  of 
fomenting  jealousy  and  disunion  within  the  province,  as  had 
been  wished  and  expected  by  its  originators,  produced  only  a 
closer  union  and  greater  firmness  of  purpose  among  the  inhabit 
ants.  The  people  of  Marblehead  offered  the  use  of  their  harbour 
to  the  Boston  merchants,  together  with  free  store-room  in  their 
stores  and  warehouses,  as  well  as  their  personal  services  in  lading 
and  unlading  goods.  The  people  of  Salem,  which,  by  the  removal 
of  the  seat  of  government,  became  the  capital  of  the  province,  in  a 
memorial  presented  at  the  dissolution  of  the  last  Assembly,  ad 
dressed  the  governor  in  the  following  highly  honourable  and 
patriotic  strain : — 

"We  are  deeply  afflicted  with  the  sense  of  our  public  calamities ; 
but  the  miseries  that  are  now  rapidly  hastening  on  our  brethren 
in  the  capital  of  the  province  greatly  excite  our  commiseration  ; 
and  we  hope  your  excellency  will  use  your  endeavours  to  prevent 
a  further  accumulation  of  evils  on  that  already  sorely  distressed 

people." "By  shutting  up  the  port  of  Boston  some  imagine 

that  the  course  of  trade  might  be  turned  hither,  and  to  our  benefit; 
but  nature,  in  the  formation  of  our  harbour,  forbids  our  becoming 
rivals  in  commerce  with  that  ancient  mart ;  and,  were  it  other 
wise,  we  must  be  dead  to  every  idea  of  justice,  and  lost  to  all  feelings 
of  humanity,  could  we  indulge  in  one  thought  to  seize  on  wealth, 
and  raise  our  fortunes  on  the  ruin  of  our  suffering  neighbours." 

The  ancient  privilege  of  holding  town-meetings  was  next 
attacked,  and  the  governor  issued  his  proclamation,  prohibiting,  in 
obedience  to  act  of  parliament,  the  calling  of  town-meetings  after 
the  1st  of  August.  As  soon  as  this  proclamation  was  issued,  an 
assembly  of  this  kind  was  called,  which  adjourned  till  after  the 
day  mentioned,  and  then  met.  The  governor  ordered  them  to  dis 
perse,  but  he  was  told  that  the  holding  of  the  meeting  was  no  vio 
lation  of  the  act  of  parliament,  which  only  forbade  the  calling  of 
town-meetings;  and  that  no  such  call  had  been  made,  a  legal 
meeting,  held  before  the  1st  of  August,  having  since  adjourned 
themselves  from  time  to  time.  At  one  of  these  adjourned  meetings, 
^a  solemn  league  and  covenant"  was  adopted  by  which  the  sign 
ers  of  the  paper  bound  themselves  "to  suspend  all  commercial 
intercourse  with  Great  Britain  until  the  late  obnoxious  laws  were 
repealed,  and  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  restored  to  its  chartered 
rights." 


148  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

The  governor  next  attempted  to  form  the  government  under  the 
new  constitution ;  but  he  could  find  none  to  act  as  jurors  under 
the  direction  of  judges  appointed  by  the  crown,  and  very  few  to 
accept  the  offices  now  in  the  gift  of  the  king.  Finding  himself 
thus  involved  in  difficulties,  which  daily  assumed  a  more  threat 
ening  aspect,  he  began  to  fortify  Boston  Neck*  and  increase  the 
garrison,  and  he  soon  had  such  a  force  at  his  command,  and  was 
so  well  entrenched  as  to  commence  aggressive  and  coercive  mea 
sures. 

In  the  midst  of  the  gathering  storm,  when  black  clouds  seemed 
to  be  fast  hiding  the  heavens,  the  solemnity  of  the  crisis,  and  the 
responsibilities  imposed  by  it  were  felt  by  none  more  than  by 
George  Washington.  On  the  18th  of  July,  1774,  he  presided  at  a 
general  meeting  of  the  freeholders  and  inhabitants  of  the  County 
of  Fairfax,  at  which  a  series  of  resolutions  were  passed,  which 
may  be  considered  as  imbodying  his  sentiments  at  the  commence 
ment  of  the  revolutionary  contest,  as  well  as  the  predominant 
opinions  of  the  province  of  Virginia.  They  are  chiefly  expressive 
of  a  determined  denial  of  the  right  claimed  by  Great  Britain  to 
tax  the  American  colonies,  of  determination  to  suspend  all  com 
mercial  intercourse  with  England  until  the  claim  should  be  aban 
doned,  and  with  all  parties  in  America  who  should  refuse'to  enter 
into  a  similar  agreement.  They  comain  a  luminous  statement  of 
the  constitutional  rights  of  America,  and  many  earnest  exhortations 
to  the  use  of  those  expedients  which  should  enable  the  colonies 
to  dispense  with  the  commerce  of  England,  and  to  consolidate 
their  strength  by  union.  It  is  remarkable  that  one  of  these  resolu 
tions  condemns  the  importation  of  slaves  as  "a  wicked,  cruel,  and 
unnatural  trade."  George  Washington  and  Charles  Broadwater 
were  chosen  by  this  meeting  to  represent  the  county  of  Fairfax  at 
the  convention  which  was  called  to  meet  at  Williamsburg  on  the 
1st  day  of  August. 

The  Virginia  convention  appointed  Peyton  Randolph,  Richard 
Henry  Lee,  George  Washington,  Patrick  Henry,  Richard  Bland, 
Benjamin  Harrison,  and  Edmund  Pendleton,  to  meet  the  delegates 
from  the  other  colonies,  which  were  to  assemble  at  Philadelphia 
in  September.  In  a  session  of  six  days,  the  convention  gave 
instructions  to  these  deputies,  and  adopted  a  series  of  resolutions, 
which  they  called  an  association,  similar  in  tenor  and  temper  to 
those  adopted  two  weeks  before  in  Fairfax  county. 

Before  noticing  the  acts  of  the  first  continental  Congress,  it 
may  be  important  to  understand  the  precise  state  of  Washington's 


WASHINGTON'S    CORRESPONDENCE..  149 

mind  respecting  the  dispute  between  the  two  countries.  This  is 
important  for  two  reasons ;  first,  because  the  sentiments  of  Wash 
ington  may  be  considered  as  a  fair  exponent  of  those  of  his  coun 
trymen  at  large  ;  and  next,  because  these  sentiments  have  been 
much  misunderstood,  in  consequence  of  the  circulation  of  a  series 
of  spurious  letters  bearing  his  name,  and  tending  to  show  that  he 
did  not  enter  heartily  into  the  defence  of  the  cause  of  his  country. 
The  statements  of  these  letters  were  believed  by  many.  They  even 
crept  into  history,  and  were,  a  little  before  the  close  of  his  life, 
revived  against  him  by  his  political  opponents. 

The  utter  falsehood  of  these  representations  will  best  be  shown 
by  three  of  his  letters  written  about  this  time.  The  first  was 
addressed  to  Bryan,  afterwards  Lord  Fairfax,  dated  July  20, 1774, 
and  contains  the  following  passages. 

"That  I  differ  very  widely  from  you  in  respect  to  the  mode  of 
obtaining  a  repeal  of  the  acts  so  much  and  so  justly  complained 
of,  I  shall  not  hesitate  to  acknowledge  ;  and  that  this  difference  in 
opinion  probably  proceeds  from  the  different  constructions  we  put 
upon  the  conduct  and  intention  of  the  ministry,  may  also  be  true  ; 
but  as  I  see  nothing,  on  the  one  hand,  to  induce  a  belief  that  the 
parliament  would  embrace  a  favourable  opportunity  of  repealing 
acts,  which  they  go  on  with  great  rapidity  to  pass,  in  order  to 
enforce  their  tyrannical  system ;  and,  on  the  other,  I  observe,  or 
think  I  observe,  that  government  is  pursuing  a  regular  plan  at  the 
expense  of  law  and  justice  to  overthrow  our  constitutional  rights 
and  liberties,  how  can  I  expect  any  redress  from  a  measure  which 
has  been  ineffectually  tried  already  ?  For,  sir,  what  is  it  we  are 
contending  against  ?  Is  it  against  paying  the  duty  of  three  pence 
per  pound  on  tea  because  burdensome  ?  No,  it  is  the  right  only* 
that  we  have  all  along  disputed  ;  and  to  this  end  we  have  already 
petitioned  his  majesty  in  as  humble  and  dutiful  a  manner  as  sub 
jects  could  do.  Nay,  more,  we  applied  to  the  House  of  Lords 
and  House  of  Commons  in  their  different  legislative  capacities, 
setting  forth,  that,  as  Englishmen,  we  could  not  be  deprived  of 
this  essential  and  valuable  part  of  our  constitution.  If,  then,  as 
the  fact  really  is,  it  is  against  the  right  of  taxation  that  we  now 
do,  and,  as  I  before  said,  all  along  have  contended,  why  should 
they  suppose  an  exertion  of  this  power  would  be  less  obnoxious 
now  than  formerly  ?  And  what  reason  have  we  to  believe  that 
they  would  make  a  second  attempt,  whilst  the  same  sentiments 
fill  the  breast  of  every  American,  if  they  did  not  intend  to  enforce 
it  if  possible  ? 

N2 


150  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

"The  conduct  of  the  Boston  people  could  not  justify  the  rigour 
of  their  measures,  unless  there  had  been  a  requisition  of  payment 
and  refusal  of  it ;  nor  did  that  conduct  require  an  act  to  deprive 
the  government  of  Massachusetts  Bay  of  their  charter,  or  to  ex 
empt  offenders  from  trial  in  the  places  where  offences  were  com 
mitted,  as  there  was  not,  nor  could  there  be,  a  single  instance 
produced  to  manifest  the  necessity  of  it.  Are  not  all  these  things 
evident  proofs  of  a  fixed  and  uniform  plan  to  tax  us  ?  If  we  want 
further  proofs,  do  not  all  the  debates  in  the  House  of  Commons 
serve  to  confirm  this?  And  has  not  General  Gage's  conduct,  since 
his  arrival,  in  stopping  the  address  of  his  council,  and  publishing 
a  proclamation  more  becoming  a  Turkish  bashaw  than  an  English 
governor,  declaring  it  treason  to  associate  in  any  manner  by  which 
the  commerce  of  Great  Britain  is  to  be  affected,  has  not  this  exhi 
bited  an  unexampled  testimony  of  the  most  despotic  system  of 
tyranny  that  ever  was  practised  in  a  free  government  ?  In  short, 
what  further  proofs  are  wanting  to  satisfy  any  one  of  the  designs 
of  the  ministry  than  their  own  acts,  which  are  uniform  and  plainly 
tending  to  the  same  point,  nay,  if  I  mistake  not,  avowedly  to  fix 
the  right  of  taxation  ?  What  hope  have  we  then  from  petitioning, 
when  they  tell  us  that  now  or  never  is  the  time  to  fix  the  matter  ? 
Shall  we,  after  this,  whine  and  cry  for  relief,  when  we  have  already 
tried  it  in  vain  ?  Or  shall  we  supinely  sit  and  see  one  province 
after  another  fall  a  sacrifice  to  despotism  ? 

"If  I  were  in  any  doubt,  as  to  the  right  which  the  parliament 
of  Great  Britain  had  to  tax  us  without  our  consent,  I  should  most 
heartily  coincide  with  you  in  opinion,  that  to  petition,  and  to  peti 
tion  only,  is  the  proper  method  to  apply  for  relief;  because  we 
should  then  be  asking  a  favour,  and  not  claiming  a  right,  which, 
by  the  law  of  nature,  and  by  our  constitution,  we  are,  in  my 
opinion,  indubitably  entitled  to.  I  should  even  think  it  criminal 
to  go  further  than  this,  under  such  an  idea ;  but  I  have  none  such. 
I  think  the  parliament  of  Great  Britain  have  no  more  right  to  put 
their  hands  into  my  pocket  without  my  consent,  than  I  have  to  put 
my  hands  into  yours  ;  and  this  being  already  urged  to  them  in  a 
firm  but  decent  manner,  by  all  the  colonies,  what  reason  is  there 
to  expect  any  thing  from  their  justice  ? 

"As  to  the  resolution  for  addressing  the  throne,  I  own  to  you, 
sir,  I  think  the  whole  might  have  been  expunged.  I  expect  nothing 
from  the  measure,  nor  should  my  voice  have  sanctioned  it,  if  the 
non- importation  scheme  was  intended  to  be  retarded  by  it ;  for  I 
am  convinced,  as  much  as  I  am  of  my  existence,  that  there  is  no 


WASHINGTON'S    CORRESPONDENCE.  151 

relief  for  us  bat  in  their  distress  ;  and  I  think,  at  least  I  hope,  that 
there  is  public  virtue  enough  left  among  us  to  deny  ourselves  every 
thing  but  the  bare  necessaries  of  life  to  accomplish  this  end.  This 
we  have  a  right  to  do,  and  no  power  upon  earth  can  compel  us  to 
do  otherwise,  till  it  has  first  reduced  us  to  the  most  abject  state 
of  slavery.  The  stopping  of  our  exports  would,  no  doubt,  be  a 
shorter  method  than  the  other  to  effect  this  purpose ;  but  if  we  owe 
money  to  Great  Britain,  nothing  but  the  last  necessity  can  justify 
the  non-payment  of  it ;  and,  therefore,  I  have  great  doubts  upon 
this  head,  and  wish  to  see  the  other  method  first  tried,  which  is 
legal,  and  will  facilitate  these  payments. 

"I  cannot  conclude  without  expressing  some  concern  that  I 
should  differ  so  widely  in  sentiment  from  you,  on  a  matter  of  such 
great  moment  and  general  import ;  and  I  should  much  distrust 
my  own  judgment  upon  the  occasion,  if  my  nature  did  not  recoil 
at  the  thought  of  submitting  to  measures,  which  I  think  subversive 
of  every  thing  that  I  ought  to  hold  dear  and  valuable,  and  did  I  not 
find,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  voice  of  mankind  is  with  me." 

The  second  letter  was  addressed  to  the  same  gentleman,  about 
a  week  before  he  left  Mount  Vernon  to  attend  the  first  meeting  of 
Congress.  It  is  dated  Mount  Vernon,  24th  August,  1774,  and  is 
as  follows : — 

"DEAR  SIR — Your  letter  of  the  5th  instant  came  to  this  place, 
forwarded  by  Mr.  Ramsey,  a  few  days  after  my  return  from  Wil- 
liamsburg,  and  I  delayed  acknowledging  it  sooner,  in  the  hope 
that  I  should  find  time,  before  I  began  my  journey  to  Philadelphia, 
to  answer  it  fully,  if  not  satisfactorily  ;  but  as  much  of  my  time 
has  been  engrossed  since  I  came  home,  by  company,  by  your  bro 
ther's  sale  and  the  business  consequent  thereupon,  in  writing  let 
ters  to  England,  and  now  in  attending  to  my  own  domestic  affairs 
previous  to  my  departure,  I  find  it  impossible  to  bestow  as  much 
attention  on  the  subject  of  your  letter  as  I  could  wTish,  and,  there 
fore,  I  must  rely  upon  your  good  nature  and  candour  in  excuse 
for  not  attempting  it.  In  truth,  persuaded,  as  I  am,  that  you  have 
read  all  the  political  pieces  which  compose  a  large  share  of  the 
gazettes  at  this  time,  I  should  think  it,  but  for  your  request,  a 
piece  of  inexcusable  arrogance  in  me,  to  make  the  least  essay 
to wards  a  change  in  your  political  opinions ;  for  I  am  sure  I  have 
no  new  light  to  throw  upon  the  subject,  nor  any  other  arguments 
to  offer  in  support  of  my  own  doctrine,  than  what  you  have  seen  ; 
and  I  could  only  in  general  add,  that  an  innate  spirit  of  freedom 
first  told  me,  that  the  measures  which  the  administration  have  for 


152  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

some  time  been,  and  now  are  most  violently  pursuing,  are  opposed 
to  every  principle  of  natural  justice ;  whilst  much  abler  heads 
than  my  own  have  fully  convinced  me,  that  they  are  not  only 
repugnant  to  natural  right,  but  subversive  of  the  laws  and  consti 
tution  of  Great  Britain  itself,  in  the  establishment  of  which  some 
of  the  best  blood  in  the  kingdom  has  been  spilt. 

"Satisfied,  then,  that  the  acts  of  the  British  parliament  are  no 
longer  governed  by  the  principles  of  justice,  that  they  are  tramp 
ling  upon  the  valuable  rights  -of  Americans,  confirmed  to  them  by 
charter,  and  by  the  constitution  they  themselves  boast  of,  and  con 
vinced,  beyond  the  smallest  doubt,  that  these  measures  are  the 
result  of  deliberation,  and  attempted  to  be  carried  into  execution 
by  the  hand  of  power,  is  it  a  time  to  trifle,  or  risk  our  cause  upon 
petitions,  which  with  difficulty  obtain  access,  and  afterwards  are 
thrown  by  with  the  utmost  contempt  ?  Or  should  wTe,  because 
heretofore  unsuspicious  of  design,  and  then  unwilling  to  enter  into 
disputes  with  the  mother  country,  go  on  to  bear  more,  and  forbear 
to  enumerate  our  just  causes  of  complaint  ?  For  my  own  part,  I 
shall  not  undertake  to  say  where  the  line  between  Great  Britain 
and  the  colonies  should  be  drawn  ;  but  I  am  clearly  of  opinion, 
that  one  ought  to  be  drawn,  and  our  rights  clearly  ascertained. 
I  could  wish,  I  own,  that  the  dispute  had  been  left  to  posterity  to 
determine ;  but  the  crisis  is  arrived  when  we  must  assert  our 
rights,  or  submit  to  every  imposition  that  can  be  heaped  upon  us, 
till  custom  and  use  shall  make  us  tame  and  abject  slaves. 

"I  intended  to  write  no  more  than  an  apology  for  not  writing ; 
but  I  find  I  am  insensibly  running  into  a  length  I  did  not  expect, 
and  therefore  shall  conclude  with  remarking,  that,  if  you  disavow 
the  right  of  parliament  to  tax  us,  unrepresented  as  we  are,  we 
only  differ  in  respect  to  the  mode  of  opposition,  and  this  difference 
principally  arises  from  your  belief,  that  they  (the  parliament  I 
mean)  want  a  decent  opportunity  to  repeal  the  acts  ;  whilst  I  am 
fully  convinced,  that  there  has  been  a  regular,  systematic  plan 
formed  to  enforce  them,  and  that  nothing  but  unanimity  and  firm 
ness  in  the  colonies,  which  they  did  not  expect,  can  prevent  it. 
By  the  best  advices  from  Boston  it  seems  that  General  Gage  is 
exceedingly  disconcerted  at  the  quiet  and  steady  conduct  of  the 
people  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  at  the  measures  pursuing  by 
the  other  governments.  I  dare  say  he  expected  to  force  those 
oppressed  people  into  compliance,  or  irritate  them  to  acts  of  vio 
lence  before  this,  for  a  more  colourable  pretence  of  ruling  that  and 
the  other  colonies  with  a  high  hand. 


WASHINGTON'S    CORRESPONDENCE.  153 

« I  shall  set  off  on  Wednesday  next  for  Philadelphia,  where,  if 
you  have  any  commands,  I  shall  be  glad  to  oblige  you  in  them  ; 
being,  dear  sir,  with  real  regard, 

Your  most  obedient  servant." 

The  third  letter  was  addressed  to  Captain  Robert  Mackenzie, 
formerly  a  captain  in  the  Virginia  regiment,  in  answer  to  one 
received  from  him.  He  was  then  an  officer  in  the  forty- third  regi 
ment  of  foot,  of  the  regular  British  army  stationed  at  Boston.  The 
following  extract  from  his  letter  to  Washington  called  forth  the  reply 
which  is  given  below. 

"Mr.  Atcheson  can  sufficiently  inform  you  of  the  state  of  this 
unhappy  province,  of  their  tyrannical  oppression  over  one  another, 
of  their  fixed  aim  at  total  independence,  of  the  weakness  and  tem 
per  of  the  mainsprings  that  set  the  whole  in  motion,  and  how 
necessary  it  is,  that  abler  heads  and  better  hearts  should  draw  a 
line  for  their  guidance.  Even  when  this  is  done,  it  is  much  to  be 
feared  that  they  will  follow  it  no  further  than  it  coincides  with 
their  present  sentiments.  Amidst  all  these  jarrings  we  have  until 
lately  lived  in  a  camp  of  pleasure ;  but  the  rebellious  and  nume 
rous  meetings  of  men  in  arms,  their  scandalous  and  ungenerous 
attacks  upon  the  best  characters  in  the  province,  obliging  them  to 
save  themselves  by  flight,  and  their  repeated,  but  feeble  threats  to 
dispossess  the  troops,  have  furnished  sufficient  reasons  to  General 
Gage  to  put  the  town  in  a  formidable  state  of  defence,  about  which 
we  are  now  fully  employed,  and  which  will  be  shortly  accom 
plished  to  their  great  mortification." 

Colonel  Washington,  who  was  then  at  Philadelphia,  attending 
the  first  Congress,  answered  as  follows,  under  date  of  the  9th  Oc 
tober,  1774. 

^DEAR  SIR — Your  letter  of  the  13th  ultimo,  from  Boston,  gave 
me  pleasure,  as  I  learnt  thereby,  that  you  are  well,  and  might  be 
expected  at  Mount  Vernon  in  your  way  to  or  from  James  River, 
in  the  course  of  the  winter. 

"When  I  have  said  this,  permit  me,  with  the  freedom  of  a  friend, 
(for  you  know  I  always  esteemed  you,)  to  express  my  sorrow,  that 
fortune  should  place  you  in  a  service  that  must  fix  curses  to  the 
latest  posterity  on  the  contrivers,  and  if  success  (which,  by-the-by, 
is  impossible)  accompanies  it,  execrations  upon  all  those  who  have 
been  instrumental  in  their  execution. 

"I  do  not  mean  by  this  to  insinuate,  that  an  officer  is  not  to 
discharge  his  duty,  even  when  chance,  not  choice,  has  placed  him 
in  a  disagreeable  situation ;  but  I  conceive,  when  you  condemn 
20 


154  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

the  conduct  of  the  Massachusetts  people,  you  reason  from  effects, 
not  from  causes  ;  otherwise  you  would  not  wonder  at  a  people 
who  are  every  day  receiving  fresh  proofs  of  a  systematic  assertion 
of  an  arbitrary  power,  deeply  planned  to  overturn  the  laws  and 
constitution  of  their  country,  and  to  violate  thejnost  essential  and 
valuable  rights  of  mankind,  being  irritated,  and  with  difficulty 
restrained  from  acts  of  the  greatest  violence  and  intemperance. 
For  my  own  part,  I  confess  to  you  candidly,  that  I  view  things  in 
a  very  different  point  of  light  from  the  one  in  which  you  seem  to 
consider  them,  and  though  you  are  led  to  believe  by  venal  men, — 
for  such  I  must  take  the  liberty  of  calling  those  new-fangled  coun 
sellors  who  fly  to,  and  surround  you,  and  all  others,  who,  for 
honours  or  pecuniary  gratifications,  will  lend  their  aid  to  over 
turn  the  constitution,  and  introduce  a  system  of  arbitrary  govern 
ment, — although  you  are  taught,  I  say,  by  discoursing  with  such 
men,  to  believe  that  the  people  of  Massachusetts  are  rebellious, 
setting  up  for  independency,  and  what  not, — give  me  leave,  my 
good  friend,  to  tell  you  that  you  are  abused,  grossly  abused. 
This  I  advance  with  a  degree  of  confidence  and  boldness  which 
may  claim  your  belief,  having  better  opportunities  of  knowing  the 
real  sentiments  of  the  people  you  are  among,  from  the  leaders  of 
them  in  opposition  to  the  present  measures  of  the  administration, 
than  you  have  from  those  whose  business  it  is  not  to  disclose 
truths,  but  to  misrepresent  facts,  in  order  to  justify,  as  much  as 
possible,  to  the  world  their  own  conduct.  Give  me  leave  to  add, 
and  I  think  I  can  announce  it  as  a  fact,  that  it  is  not  the  wish  or 
interest  of  that  government,  or  any  other  upon  this  continent,  sepa 
rately  or  collectively,  to  set  up  for  independence ;  but  this  you  may 
at  the  same  time  rely  on,  that  none  of  them  will  ever  submit  to  the 
loss  of  those  valuable  rights  and  privileges  which  are  essential  to 
the  happiness  of  every  free  state,  and  without  which,  life,  liberty, 
and  property  are  rendered  totally  insecure. 

"These,  sir,  being  certain  consequences,  which  must  naturally 
result  from  the  late  acts  of  parliament  relative  to  America  in  general, 
and  the  government  of  Massachusetts  Bay  in  particular,  is  it  to  be 
wondered  at,  I  repeat,  that  men  who  wish  to  avert  the  impending 
blow,  should  attempt  to  oppose  it  in  its  progress,  or  prepare  for 
their  defence,  if  it  cannot  be  averted  ?  Surely,  I  may  be  allowed 
to  answer  in  the  negative;  and  again,  give  me  leave  to  add  as  my 
opinion,  that  more  blood  will  be  spilled  on  this  occasion,  if  the 
ministry  are  determined  to  push  matters  to  extremity,  than  history 
ever  yet  furnished  instances  of  in  the  annals  of  North  America  ; 


THE    QUESTION    OF    INDEPENDENCE.  155 

and  such  a  vital  wound  will  be  given  to  the  peace  of  this  great 
country,  as  time  itself  cannot  cure,  or  eradicate  the  remembrance  of. 

"But  I  have  done.  I  was  involuntarily  led  into  a  short  discussion 
of  this  subject,  by  your  remarks  on  the  conduct  of  the  Boston  peo 
ple,  and  your  opinion  of  their  wishes  to  set  up  for  independency. 
I  am  well  satisfied  that  no  such  thing  is  desired  by  any  thinking 
man  in  all  North  America.  On  the  contrary,  that  it  is  the  ardent 
wish  of  the  warmest  advocates  for  liberty,  that  peace  and  tran 
quillity  upon  constitutional  grounds  may  be  restored,  and  the  hor 
rors  of  civil  discord  prevented." 

The  language  of  Washington  in  this  last  letter,  respecting  the 
ulterior  designs  of  his  countrymen,  naturally  leads  us  to  inquire 
what  were  the  predominant  sentiments  of  the  American  statesmen 
on  this  point.  More  especially  is  it  important  to  ascertain  the  views 
writh  which  the  first  congress  assembled ;  whether  they  regarded 
themselves  as  an  independent  parliament,  or  whether  they  simply 
designed  to  consult  for  the  interest  of  their  constituents,  subject  to 
the  legislative  control  of  the  parent  government.  Upon  this  sub 
ject,  the  industrious  and  untiring  editor  of  Washington's  writings 
has  bestowed  a  singular  degree  of  research,  which  has  brought  to 
light  some  very  interesting  details  regarding  the  notions  of  the 
American  patriots,  and  the  country  at  large,  upon  the  subject  of 
independence. 

"It  is  not  easy  to  determine,"  says  this  accomplished  author,* 
"  at  what  precise  date  the  idea  of  independence  was  first  enter 
tained  by  the  principal  persons  in  America.  English  writers,  argu 
ing  from  the  conduct  of  the  colonists,  have  commonly  charged 
them  with  secretly  harbouring  such  designs  at  a  very  early  period. 
This  is  not  probable.  The  spirit  and  form  of  their  institutions,  it 
is  true,  led  them  to  act  frequently  as  an  independent  people,  and 
to  set  up  high  claims  in  regard  to  their  rights  and  privileges,  but 
there  is  no  sufficient  evidence  to  prove,  that  any  province,  or  any 
number  of  prominent  individuals,  entertained  serious  thoughts  of 
separating  entirely  from  the  mother  country,  till  very  near  the  actual 
commencement  of  the  war  of  the  revolution. 

"Gordon  relates  the  following  anecdote  of  a  conversation,  said  to 
have  taken  place  in  the  year  1759,  between  Mr.  Pratt,  afterwards 
Lord  Camden,  and  Dr.  Franklin,  but  he  cites  no  authority.  <For 
all  what  you  Americans  say  of  your  loyalty,'  observed  Mr.  Pratt, 
'I  know  you  will  one  day  throw  off  your  dependence  upon  this 
country ;  and,  notwithstanding  your  boasted  affection  to  it,  will 

*  Appendix  to  Sparks's  Writings  of  Washington,  vol.  ii.  p.  496. 


156  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

set  up  for  independence. '  Franklin  answered,  'No  such  idea  is 
entertained  in  the  mind  of  the  Americans  ;  and  no  such  idea  will 
will  ever  enter  their  heads,  unless  you  grossly  abuse  them.' 
'Very  true,'  replied  Mr.  Pratt,  'that  is  one  of  the  main  causes  I 
see  will  happen,  and  will  produce  the  event.'* 

"As  early  as  the  year  1774,  Dr.  Franklin  began  to  talk  of  a 
' total  emancipation?  or  independence.!  And  Mr.  Wirt  represents 
Patrick  Henry,  as  uttering  the  same  sentiment  anterior  to  the 
meeting  of  the  first  continental  Congress.  Yet  the  manner  in 
which  it  was  received  by  his  hearers  indicates  that  it  was  to  them 
a  novel  and  unexpected  doctrine  ;  '  at  the  word  independence,  the 
company  appeared  to  be  startled,  for  they  had  never  heard  any 
thing  of  the  kind  before  even  suggested. 'J 

"Washington,  in  his  letter  to  Captain  Mackenzie,  denies,  in  very 
strong  terms,  that  such  was  the  design  of  any  person,  so  far  as  his 
knowledge  extended.  No  man,  perhaps,  was  better  informed  on 
the  subject  by  mingling  in  the  society  of  others  ;  and  it  may  hence 
be  confidently  inferred,  that  the  topic  of  independence  was  not 
openly  broached  by  the  members  of  the  first  Congress,  even  in  their 
private  discourse  among  themselves.  That  he  and  his  immediate 
friends  had  no  such  object  in  view  is  manifest  from  a  clause  in  the 
Fairfax  County  Resolves,  passed  on  the  18th  of  July  preceding,  at 
a  public  meeting  over  which  he  presided.  It  is  there  stated  as  a 
cause  of  complaint,  'that  the  British  ministry  are  artfully  preju 
dicing  our  sovereign,  and  inflaming  the  minds  of  our  fellow-sub 
jects  in  Great  Britain,  by  propagating  the  most  malevolent  false 
hoods,  particularly  that  there  is  an  intention  in  the  American  colo 
nies  to  set  up  for  independent  states .'  It  was  the  opinion  of  Wash 
ington,  and  of  the  framers  of  these  resolves,  that  the  colonies  had 
the  power,  by  withholding  their  support  of  British  commerce,  to 
inflict  so  much  distress  on  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  as  to  rouse 
the  government  to  a  sense  of  the  colonial  wrongs,  and  produce  a 
speedy  change  in  their  measures.  And  it  was  moreover  supposed, 
that  spirited  resolutions,  showing  the  almost  universal  sense  of  the 
people,  that  the  acts  of  the  British  parliament  in  regard  to  them 
were  oppressive  and  unjust,  would  tend  to  hasten  so  desirable  a 
result.  Such  were,  no  doubt,  the  views  entertained  by  all  classes 
of  people,  and  the  motives  actuating  them  in  the  primary  move 
ments  of  the  Revolution. 

"The  subject  being  somewhat  curious,  as  well  as  interesting  in 

*  Gordon's  History  of  the  American  Revolution,  vol.  i.  p.  136. 

|  Memoir  of  Josiah  Quincy,  jun.,  p.  250.  \  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,  p.  94. 


THE    QUESTION    OF    INDEPENDENCE.  157 

its  historical  aspect,  I  thought  it  not  amiss  to  obtain  the  impres 
sions  of  Mr.  Madison,  who  could  not  fail  to  have  a  vivid  recollec 
tion  of  the  popular  feeling  and  principal  events  in  Virginia  at  the 
period  in  question,  and  to  know  the  sentiments  of  the  political 
leaders.  The  following  is  an  extract  from  his  letter,  dated  Janu 
ary  5th,  1828. 

"<You  wish  me  to  say  whether  I  believe  that  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Revolution,  or  at  the  assembling  of  the  first  Congress,  the 
leaders  of  that  day  were  resolved  on  independence.  I  readily 
express  my  entire  belief,  that  they  were  not ;  though  I  must  admit 
that  my  means  of  information  wrere  more  limited  than  may  have 
been  the  case  with  others  still  living  to  answer  the  inquiry.  My 
first  entrance  on  public  life  was  in  May,  1776,  when  I  became  a 
member  of  the  convention  in  Virginia,  which  instructed  her  dele 
gates  in  Congress  to  propose  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
Previous  to  that  date  I  was  not  in  sufficient  communication  with 
any  under  the  denomination  of  leaders,  to  learn  their  sentiments 
or  views  on  that  cardinal  subject. 

"  <I  can  only  say,  therefore,  that  so  far  as  ever  came  to  my  know 
ledge,  no  one  of  them  ever  avowed,  or  was  understood  to  entertain 
a  pursuit  of  independence,  at  the  assembling  of  the  first  Congress, 
or  for  a  considerable  period  thereafter.  It  has  always  been  my 
impression,  that  a  re-establishment  of  the  colonial  relations  to  the 
parent  country,  as  they  were  previous  to  the  controversy,  was  the 
real  object  of  every  class  of  the  people,  till  despair  of  obtaining  it, 
and  the  exasperating  effects  of  the  war,  and  the  manner  of  con 
ducting  it,  prepared  the  minds  of  all  for  the  event  declared  on  the 
4th  of  July,  1776,  as  preferable,  with  all  its  difficulties  and  perils, 
to  the  alternative  of  submission  to  a  claim  of  power  at  once  exter 
nal,  unlimited,  irresponsible,  and  under  every  temptation  to  abuse, 
from  interest,  ambition,  and  revenge.  If  there  were  individuals 
who  aimed  at  independence,  their  views  must  have  been  confined 
to  their  own  bosoms,  or  to  a  very  confidential  circle.' 

"It  was  the  belief,  before  the  meeting  of  the  Congress,  particu 
larly  of  the  more  cautious  and  moderate,  that  petitions  to  the  king 
and  parliament  by  a  body  of  representatives  assembled  from  all 
parts  of  the  colonies,  would  be  respected,  and  in  the  end  procure 
redress.  They,  on  the  contrary,  who,  like  Washington,  had  no 
confidence  in  the  success  of  this  measure,  looked  forward  to  the 
probable  issue  of  arms,  but  still  without  any  other  anticipations 
than,  by  a  resolute  vindication  of  their  rights,  to  effect  a  change 
in  the  conduct  and  policy  of  the  British  government,  and  restore 

O 


158  LIFE   OF    WASHINGTON. 

the  colonies  to  their  former  condition.  It  was  not  till  these  peti 
tions  were  rejected  with  a  show  of  indifference,  if  not  of  contempt, 
that  the  eyes  of  all  were  opened  to  the  necessity  of  unconditional 
submission,  or  united  resistance.  From  that  time  the  word  inde 
pendence  was  boldly  pronounced,  and  soon  became  a  familiar  sound 
to  the  ears  of  the  whole  people. 

"On  the  10th  of  November,  1775,  Mr.  Richard  Penn,  who  had 
been  governor  of  Pennsylvania,  and  had  left  Philadelphia  in  the 
preceding  July,  was  examined  before  the  House  of  Lords,  while 
the  petition  from  Congress,  which  had  been  brought  over  and  pre 
sented  by  Mr.  Penn,  in  conjunction  with  the  agents  for  the  colo 
nies,  was  under  discussion.  The  following  questions  and  answers 
occur  in  the  examination. 

«  Question.  Are  you  personally  acquainted  with  many  of  the 
members  of  Congress  ? 

"Answer.  I  am  acquainted  with  almost  all  the  members  of  Con 
gress. 

"  Question.  Do  you  think  they  levy  and  carry  on  this  war  for  the 
purpose  of  establishing  an  independent  empire  ? 

"Answer.  I  think  they  do  not  carry  on  the  war  for  independency. 
I  never  heard  them  breathe  sentiments  of  that  nature. 

"  Question.  For  what  purpose  do  you  believe  they  have  taken 
up  arms  ? 

"Answer.  In  defence  of  their  liberties.* 

"It  is  a  curious  fact,  that  the  ministers  had  at  this  moment  in 
their  hands  two  intercepted  letters,  written  by  Mr.  John  Adams  in 
Congress,  which  expressed  sentiments  quite  at  variance  with  the 
testimony  of  Mr.  Penn.  These  letters  were  dated  on  the  24th  of 
July,  only  two  weeks  later  than  the  petition  to  the  king,  taken  to 
England  by  Mr.  Penn,  which  was  approved  in  Congress  on  the 
8th.  They  were  intercepted  in  crossing  the  ferry  at  Newport,  and 
sent  on  board  Admiral  Graves's  fleet,  whence  they  found  their 
way  to  Lord  Dartmouth.  The  originals  are  now  in  the  State  Paper 
Office.  One  of  these  letters  was  from  Mr.  Adams  to  his  wife,  in 
which  he  said  : 

"<The  business  I  have  had  on  my  mind  has  been  as  great  and 
important  as  can  be  intrusted  to  one  man,  and  the  difficulty  and 
intricacy  of  it  are  prodigious.  When  fifty  or  sixty  men  have  a 
constitution  to  form  for  a  great  empire,  at  the  same  time  that  they 
have  a  country  of  fifteen  hundred  miles  in  extent  to  fortify,  millions 
to  arm  and  train,  a  naval  power  to  begin,  an  extensive  commerce 

*  Parliamentary  Debates,  November,  1775. 


THE    QUESTION    OF    INDEPENDENCE.  159 

to  regulate,  numerous  tribes  of  Indians  to  negotiate  with,  a  standing 
army  of  twenty-seven  thousand  men  to  raise,  pay,  victual,  and 
officer,  I  really  shall  pity  those  fifty  or  sixty  men.' 

"The  other  letter  was  to  James  Warren,  at  that  time  speaker  of 
the  Massachusetts  Assembly,  and  contained  the  following  declara 
tions  : 

"<We  ought  to  have  had  in  our  hands  a  month  ago  the  whole 
legislative,  executive,  and  judicial  power  of  the  whole  continent, 
and  have  completely  modelled  a  constitution ;  to  have  raised  a 
naval  power  and  opened  all  our  ports  wide ;  to  have  arrested  every 
friend  to  government  on  the  continent,  and  held  them  as  hostages 
for  the  poor  victims  in  Boston ;  and  then  opened  the  door  as  wide 
as  possible  for  peace  and  reconciliation.  After  this,  they  might 
have  petitioned,  and  negotiated,  and  addressed,  if  they  would.  Is 
all  this  extravagant?  Is  it  wild?  Is  it  not  the  soundest  policy?' 

"With  sentiments  like  these,  coming  from  a  prominent  member 
of  Congress,  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  ministry  should  be  puzzled 
to  reconcile  the  doctrines  and  assertions  of  the  petitions  to  the  king, 
in  which  that  body  express  their  loyalty,  and  desire  an  opportunity 
*  of  evincing  the  sincerity  of  their  professions,  by  every  testimony 
of  devotion  becoming  the  most  dutiful  subjects  and  the  most  affec 
tionate  colonists.'  No  charge  of  insincerity,  however,  can  attach 
to  Mr.  Adams.  It  is  well  known  that  he  had  little  sympathy  with 
the  party  who  insisted  on  this  last  petition,  and  that  he  and  others 
yielded  to  their  associates,  with  the  view  of  preserving  peace  and 
harmony  within  the  walls  of  Congress,  as  the  only  means  of  ulti 
mate  union  and  success.  At  this  stage  of  affairs,  they  hoped 
nothing  from  petitions,  and  anticipated  a  remedy  of  evils  from  no 
other  sources,  than  strong  and  determined  measures  on  the  part  of 
the  representatives  of  the  people.  Whatever  may  have  been  the 
opinions  or  wishes  of  other  members  of  Congress,  it  is  hardly  pos 
sible,  that  Mr.  Adams  could  have  written  the  above  letters  without 
looking  forward  at  least  to  the  possibility  of  a  speedy  separation, 
and  an  independent  form  of  government.  The  fact  of  their  being 
in  the  hands  of  the  ministry  when  the  petition  came  under  the 
notice  of  parliament,  may  serve  as  a  key  to  some  of  the  proceed 
ings  on  the  subject. 

"In  tracing  this  matter  farther,  we  shall  find  the  opinions  of 
Washington,  Madison,  and  Penn,  in  regard  to  a  scheme  of  inde 
pendence  among  the  colonists  anterior  to  the  beginning  of  the 
Revolution,  confirmed  by  other  testimony  of  the  highest  order. 
In  a  letter  which  Dr.  Franklin  wrote  to  his  son,  dated  March  22, 


160 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


1775,  he  relates  a 
conversation  he  had 
held  in  the  August 
preceding  with  Lord 
(Chatham,  in  which 
that  statesman  spoke 
of  the  prevailing  be 
lief  in  England,  that 
the  colonists  aimed 
at  setting  themselves 
up  as  an  independent 
state.  <  I  assured 
him,'  said  Franklin, 
4  that  having  more 
than  once  travelled 
almost  from  one  end 
of  the  continent  to 
the  other,  and  kept  a 
great  variety  of  company,  eating,  drinking,  and  conversing  with 
them  freely,  I  never  had  heard  in  any  conversation  from  any  per 
son,  drunk  or  sober,  the  least  expression  of  a  wish  for  a  separation, 
or  a  hint  that  such  a  thing  would  be  advantageous  to  America.'* 

"Again,  Mr.  Jay,  remarking  on  certain  parts  of  Botta's  History 
of  the  American  Revolution,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Otis,  January  13th, 
1821,  thus  expressed  himself:  'During  the  course  of  my  life,  and 
until  after  the  second  petition  of  Congress  in  1775, 1  never  did  hear 
an  American  of  any  class,  or  of  any  description,  express  a  wish 
for  the  independence  of  the  colonies.'  'It  has  always  been,  and 
still  is  my  opinion  and  belief,  that  our  country  was  prompted  and 
impelled  to  independence  by  necessity,  and  not  by  choice.  They 
who  knew  how  we  were  then  circumstanced,  know  from  whence 
that  necessity  resulted.'! 

"We  have  likewise  the  opinions  uttered  on  the  same  occasion, 
of  two  other  persons  not  less  qualified  to  judge  than  any  that  have 
been  mentioned.  <  That  there  existed  a  general  desire  of  indepen 
dence  of  the  crown,'  says  Mr.  John  Adams,  'in  any  part  of  Ame 
rica,  before  the  Revolution,  is  as  far  from  the  truth  as  the  zenith 
from  the  nadir.'  <  For  my  own  part,  there  was  not  a  moment  dur 
ing  the  Revolution,  when  I  would  not  have  given  every  thing  I  pos 
sessed  for  a  restoration  to  the  state  of  things  before  the  contest 
*  Franklin's  Works,  vol.  i.  p.  278.  f  Life  of  John  Jay,  vol.  ii.  p.  412 


THE    QUESTION    OF    INDEPENDENCE.  161 

began,  provided  we  would  have  had  a  sufficient  security  for  its 
continuance.'* 

"And  Mr.  Jefferson  affirmed,  *  What  eastward  of  New  York, 
might  have  been  the  disposition  towards  England  before  the  com 
mencement  of  hostilities,  I  know  not ;  before  that  I  never  had 
heard  a  whisper  of  a  disposition  to  separate  from  Great  Britain  ;  and 
after  that,  its  possibility  was  contemplated  with  affliction  by  all.'f 

"This  mass  of  testimony,  derived  from  separate  sources,  coin 
cident  in  every  particular,  vouched  by  the  first  names  in  American 
history,  and  the  principal  actors  in  producing  a  separation,  is  per 
fectly  conclusive  on  this  point.  It  is  moreover  established,  as  Mr. 
Jay  has  remarked,  by  all  the  public  documents  and  proceedings  of 
the  colonial  legislatures,  in  which  assurances  of  loyalty  and  allegi 
ance  are  uniform  and  cordial.  Any  opinion,  therefore,  that  the 
spirit  of  independence  had  an  early  origin,  and  a  progressive 
growth,  writh  a  direct  aim  to  a  separation,  or  the  prospect  of  such 
an  event,  must  be  a  mere  inference,  sanctioned  only  by  the  circum 
stances  of  the  free  institutions  of  the  colonies,  and  the  tendency  of 
a  people  under  such  institutions  to  self-government  and  a  system 
independent  of  foreign  control." 

After  citing  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Sparks,  that  independence  was 
not  sought  by  the  leading  American  patriots  at  the  beginning  of 
the  contest,  it  is  but  fair  to  show,  by  a  quotation  from  a  respectable 
English  authority,  (the  Pictorial  History  of  England,)  that  a  con 
trary  opinion  was  entertained  by  the  ministry,  and  to  exhibit  the 
grounds  afforded  for  that  opinion,  by  the  conduct  of  Dr.  Franklin. 
Whatever  views  may  have  been  entertained  by  leading  men  in  this 
country,  Franklin,  then  in  England,  seems  to  have  anticipated  and 
desired  a  total  separation  of  the  colonies  from  the  parent  state. 

Franklin's  sending  Governor  Hutchinson's  letters  to  Boston  was 
one  of  the  facts  which  influenced  the  author  of  the  above-mentioned 
work  to  say  :  «  We  believe  that  by  nature,  by  habit,  by  the  whole 
course  of  his  life,  Franklin  was  disposed  to  be  a  republican ;  and 
that,  from  the  very  beginning  of  the  troubles,  he  aimed  at  nothing 
short  of  revolution,  independence,  and  the  establishment  of  a  com 
monwealth  in  his  native  country."  For  his  agency  in  the  affair  of 
the  letters,  Franklin  was  dismissed  from  his  office  of  postmaster- 
general.  The  quotation  in  the  note  below  refers  to  a  subsequent 
transaction. :f 

*  Life  of  John  Jay,  vol.  ii.  p.  416.  f  Ibid.  p.  417. 

±  "  In  England,  meanwhile,  Franklin  had  not  been  idle.  As  instructed  by  his  con 
stituents,  he  had  given  all  possible  publicity  to  the  addresses  of  the  general  congress  to 

21  o  2 


162  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

The  Congress  destined  to  change  the  face  of  America,  met  at 
Carpenter's  Hall,  Philadelphia,  on  the  5th  of  September,  1774 ; 
and  if  any  further  evidence  were  necessary  to  show  that  they  assem 
bled  with  an  almost  universal  desire  to  heal,  and  not  to  widen  the 

• 

the  king  and  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain — the  first  to  show  how  loyal  were  the 
Americans — the  second  (Jay's  composition)  to  excite  the  popular  body.  Moreover, 
the  philosopher,  assisted  by  numerous  agents,  and  by  some  of  the  members  of  opposi 
tion  in  parliament,  had  been  extremely  active  in  some  of  the  principal  manufacturing 
towns  of  the  north  of  England,  particularly  among  the  dissenters,  who  were  urged  to 
petition  the  throne  in  favour  of  the  colonies  and  of  their  own  trade,  which  must  suffer 
immensely  from  the  non-importation  agreements.  To  counteract  these  agencies,  to 
show  that  Franklin's  scheme  was  in  reality  nothing  less  than  to  dismember  the  British 
empire,  to  check  the  petitions,  or  get  up  counter-petitions,  Adam  Smith,  the  author  of 
the  '  Wealth  of  Nations,'  applied  to  Dr.  Roebuck,  the  eminent  physician  of  Birming 
ham,  and  the  intimate  friend  of  Shenstone,  the  poet,  imploring  him,  without  loss  of 
time,  to  make  a  journey  through  the  manufacturing  districts,  Manchester,  Leeds,  Shef 
field,  Birmingham,  &c.,  to  see  his  friends,  to  communicate  with  the  people,  and  to 
explain  to  them  the  real  motives  and  objects  of  the  Americans.  This  was  done  in 
concurrence  with  Wedderburn,  the  solicitor-general,  who  at  the  same  time  adopted 
other  measures  to  check  or  throw  discredit  on  the  petitions  Franklin  was  procuring. 
Soon  after  Adam  Smith's  letter  was  written,  an  attempt  was  made  to  disarm  Franklin's 
hostility,  or  to  ascertain  his  intentions,  by  an  English  lady,  and  by  that  lady's  brother, 
Admiral  Lord  Howe,  who  had  probably  been  already  designated  for  the  American  com 
mand,  which  he  afterwards  held  with  so  little  glory.  The  philosopher,  being  introduced 
by  Mr.  Raper,  a  member  of  the  Royal  Society,  played  a  few  games  at  chess  with  the 
lady,  whom  he  found  of  very  sensible  conversation  and  pleasing  behaviour;  and  the 
lady,  on  Christmas  day,  made  him  acquainted  with  Lord  Howe,  saying  that  he  was  a 
very  good  man,  and  that  she  was  sure  they  would  like  each  other.  According  to 
Franklin,  Lord  Howe  behaved  in  the  most  courteous  manner,  said  that,  beside  the 
general  motives  for  his  desiring  an  acquaintance  with  so  eminent  a  man,  he  had  a 
particular  motive  at  this  time,  arising  out  of  the  alarming  situation  of  American 
affairs,  which  no  one  understood  better  than  Dr.  Franklin.  The  philosopher  further 
says  that  Howe  confessed  that  he  (Franklin)  had  been  very  ill  treated  by  the  English 
ministry ,-  that  he  had  much  disapproved  of  their  conduct  towards  him ;  that  some  of 
the  ministers  themselves  were  ashamed  of  it,  and  sorry  it  had  happened.  But  even 
iu  this  account,  which  is  Franklin's  own,  it  is  certainly  not  said  that  Howe  expressed 
his  disbelief  of  the  charges,  touching  the  letters,  which  Wedderburn  had  made  against 
Franklin  before  the  privy-council.  From  the  nature  of  his  mission,  from  his  inward 
conviction  that  in  winning  over  Franklin  he  would  have  won  over  America,  Howe,  in 
spite  of  his  habitual  taciturnity,  may,  no  doubt,  have  made  use  of  many  conciliatory 
and  flattering  expressions  (and,  without  flattery,  there  was  much  to  applaud  and  rever 
ence  in  Franklin's  history,  character,  and  intellectual  performances;)  but  we  cannot 
discover  that,  either  on  this  or  any  other  occasion,  Howe  gave  the  lie  to  Wedderburn, 
however  much  he  may  have  disapproved  of  that  functionary's  injudicious  violence. 
After  a  few  general  observations  as  to  the  possibility  of  bringing  about  a  reconciliation 
through  the  medium  of  a  communication  by  himself  (Lord  Howe)  with  the  ministry, 
his  lordship,  says  Franklin,  concluded  by  observing  that  "being  himself  upon  no  ill 
terms  with  ministers,  he  thought  it  not  impossible  that  he  might,  by  conveying  my 
sentiments  to  them,  and  theirs  to  me,  be  the  means  of  bringing  on  a  good  understand 
ing,  without  committing  either  them  or  me,  if  his  negotiation  should  not  succeed ;  and 
that  I  might  rely  on  his  keeping  perfectly  secret  every  thing  I  should  wish  to  remain 
so."  Franklin's  account — and  ice  have  no  other — goes  on  to  state  that  he  told  Lord 
Howe  that  his  manner  was  such  as  had  already  engaged  his  confidence ;  that  he 
requested  his  lordship  to  give  him  credit  for  a  sincere  desire  of  healing  the  breach 
between  the  two  countries,  assuring  him  that  he  would  do  every  thing  in  his  small 
power  to  accomplish  it,  though  he  apprehended,  from  the  king's  last  speech,  and  from 
the  measures  talked  of,  no  intention  or  disposition  of  the  kind  existed  in  the  present 


DECLARATION    OF    RIGHTS.  163 

breach  between  the  colonies  and  the  parent  state,  it  would  be  found 
in  the  measures  they  first  adopted,  and  which  were  so  important, 
so  characteristic,  and  so  conclusive  upon  many  points  of  party  dis 
cussion,  as  to  have  ever  since  claimed  the  attention  of  the  historical 
student. 

It  is  related  in  the  life  of  Peyton  Randolph,  on  the  authority  of 
the  venerable  Charles  Thomson,  that  on  the  first  day  of  the  ses 
sion,  the  house  having  been  summoned  to  prayers,  and  after  the 
chaplain  had  commenced  the  service,  it  was  perceived  that  of  the 
fifty-five  members  present,  George  Washington  was  the  only  one 
who  was  upon  his  knees.  This  was  characteristic.  He  was  truly 
religious,  and,  in  every  circumstance  and  relation,  strictly  moral 
and  blameless.  In  Washington,  the  sense  of  duty  always  prevailed 
over  all  other  feelings  or  considerations. 

The  Congress  then  determined  that  their  deliberations  should  be 
secret,  that  the  result  should  be  given  to  the  world  as  unanimous, 
and  no  difference  of  opinion  be  allowed  to  transpire.  A  committee 

cabinet.  He  said  that,  as  to  the  personal  injuries  his  lordship  had  spoken  of,  they 
were  not  worth  mentioning ;  and  that,  besides,  it  was  a  fixed  rule  with  him  not  to 
mix  his  private  affairs  with  those  of  the  public.  This  first  interview  ended  by  Lord 
Howe  obtaining  a  promise  from  Franklin,  that  he  would  draw  up  in  writing  a  series 
of  propositions  on  which  he  thought  a  good  understanding  between  the  mother  country 
and  the  colonies  might  be  based.  They  agreed  to  meet  again  at  the  same  place — the 
house  of  Lord  Howe's  sister — -in  the  course  of  a  few  days,  in  order  to  discuss  those  propo 
sitions.  When  Howe  saw  the  paper,  he  must  have  been  convinced  that  the  British 
government  would  not  pay  the  least  attention  to  it,  and  that  Franklin  never  intended 
they  should ;  for  his  propositions,  without  periphrasis,  were  : — that  all  the  laws  and 
acts  of  parliament,  or  all  parts  of  them  requested  to  be  repealed  in  the  petition  of  the 
general  congress  to  the  king,  should  be  repealed  forthwith  ;  that  orders  should  be  given 
to  withdraw  all  the  ships  of  war  from  Boston,  and  remove  all  the  troops,  that  the 
colonies  might  be  left  at  liberty  in  all  their  future  speculations,  &c.  They  scarcely 
admitted  even  of  a  private  discussion,  and  Lord  Howe  merely  told  Franklin  he  would 
lay  them  before  ministers,  without  any  hope  that  such  propositions  were  likely  to 
produce  any  good  effect.  His  lordship,  however,  brought  about  a  meeting  in  private 
between  Franklin  and  Lord  Hyde  ;  but  this  was  equally  void  of  effect.  The  philosopher 
expressed,  indeed,  on  all  occasions,  a  tender  anxiety  for  the  preservation  of  peace  and  good 
fellowship ;  but  he  would  never  pledge  himself  to  a  single  sacrifice  or  concession,  con 
tinuing  to  ask  for  extreme  conditions,  which  would  have  left  the  English  government 
scarcely  the  shadow  of  authority,  and  which  would  have  given  the  colonies  virtually 
an  entire  independence,  although  he  persisted  in  declaring  that  independence  was 
neither  their  object  nor  their  wish.  Lord  Howe  saw  him  again  for  the  last  time  a 
little  before  his  return  to  his  constituents  in  America,  apologized  for  the  trouble  he  had 
given  him,  but  hoped,  if  he  should  chance  to  be  sent  out  by  his  government  to  attempt 
an  arrangement  with  the  colonists,  he  might  still  expect  his  assistance.  Franklin 
assured  him  of  his  readiness  at  all  times  to  co-operate  with  him  in  so  good  a  work. 
«  And  so,'  says  he,  « taking  my  leave,  and  receiving  his  good  wishes,  ended  the  nego 
tiation  with  Lord  Howe.'  We  shall  meet  the  philosopher  again  before  his  departure, 
giving  assurances  of  his  good  intentions  to  Lord  Chatham,  who  appears  to  have  been 
determined  not  to  doubt  in  the  slightest  degree  of  his  sincerity,  and  not  to  diminish 
the  blame  due  to  the  king  and  Lord  North's  cabinet  by  laying  any  portion  of  it  upon 
Franklin  and  his  countrymen." 


164  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

was  then  appointed  to  draw  up  a  report  upon  the  rights  violated, 
the  injuries  sustained,  and  the  means  of  redress.  The  committee 
soon  made  their  report,  and  on  the  1st  of  October  the  Congress 
entered  into  an  unanimous  declaration  of  rights ;  protesting  against 
the  various  acts  passed  during  the  preceding  years,  for  the  purpose 
of  taxing  and  interfering  with  the  charters  of  the  various  colonies, 
as  an  infringement  and  violation  of  those  rights,  and  binding  them 
selves  and  their  constituents  to  the  minute  observance  of  a  series 
of  agreements,  calculated  to  cut  off  all  commercial  intercourse 
between  themselves  and  Great  Britain,  till  redress  of  their  griev 
ances  should  be  obtained. 

HEY  next  framed  a  petition  to  the  king, 
a  memorial  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain, 
an  address  to  the  colonists  at  large,  and 
another  to  the  people  of  Canada.  "  To 
the  king  they  appealed,  as  a  sovereign 
whose  true  interest  and  glory  were  inse 
parable  from  the  liberty  and  happiness  of 
which  his  ministers  were  attempting  to 
bereave  them."*  "We  ask,"  said  they, 
"but  for  peace,  liberty,  and  safety.  We  wish  not  a  diminution 
of  the  prerogative,  nor  do  we  solicit  the  grant  of  any  new  right  in 
our  favour.  Your  royal  authority  over  us,  and  our  connection  with 
Great  Britain,  we  shall  always  carefully  and  zealously  endeavour 
to  support  and  maintain."  They  concluded  this  address  to  the 
sovereign  in  the  following  pathetic  terms:  "We  implore  your 
majesty,  for  the  honour  of  Almighty  God,  whose  pure  religion  our 
enemies  are  undermining;  for  your  glory,  which  can  be  advanced 
only  by  rendering  your  subjects  happy,  and  keeping  them  united ; 
for  the  interests  of  your  family,  depending  on  the  principles  which 
enthroned  it;  for  the  safety  and  welfare  of  your  kingdom  and 
dominions,  threatened  with  almost  unavoidable  dangers  and  dis 
tresses  ;  that  your  majesty,  as  the  loving  father  of  your  whole  peo 
ple,  connected  by  the  same  bonds  of  law,  loyalty,  faith,  and  blood, 
though  dwelling  in  various  countries,  will  not  suffer  the  transcend 
ent  relations  formed  by  these  ties  to  be  further  violated,  in  uncer 
tain  expectation  of  effects  that,  if  attained,  never  can  compensate 
for  the  calamities  through  which  they  must  be  gained. 

"We,  therefore,  most  earnestly  beseech  your  majesty,  that  your 
royal  authority  and  interposition  may  be  used  for  our  relief,  and 
that  a  gracious  answer  may  be  given  to  this  petition." 

*  Grahame,  494. 


•  A  *TV 

<*  TH£  \ 

;^~*THE    CONTINENTAL    CONGRESS.  165 

To  the  people  of  Britain,  they  earnestly  declared  the  high  value 
which  they  attached  to  a  full  share  in  the  system  of  the  British  con 
stitution,  and  represented  the  danger  portended  to  the  whole  system 
by  the  extinction  of  liberty,  its  vital  principle,  in  so  large  and  flou 
rishing  a  department  of  the  empire.  "Place  us,"  they  said,  "in 
the  situation  in  which  we  were  at  the  close  of  the  last  war,  and  our 
former  harmony  will  be  restored." 

The  address  to  their  constituents  is  replete  with  serious  and  tem 
perate  argument.  In  this  paper,  the  several  causes  which  had  led 
to  the  existing  state  of  things  were  detailed  at  large,  and  great  care 
was  taken  thoroughly  to  convince  their  judgments,  that  their  liber 
ties  must  be  destroyed  and  the  security  of  their  property  and  per 
sons  annihilated,  by  submission  to  the  pretensions  of  Great  Britain. 
Their  greatest  object  being  to  unite  the  people  of  America,  by  de 
monstrating  to  them  the  sincerity  with  which  their  leaders  had 
sought  for  reconciliation,  on  terms  compatible  with  liberty;  the 
conduct  of  the  colonists  was  contended  to  have  been  uniformly 
moderate,  and  entirely  exempt  from  blame,  while  the  system  of 
administration  was  treated  as  equally  dangerous  to  them  all,  although 
it  insidiously  professed  to  be  particularly  aimed  at  Massachusetts. 
They  stated  the  measures  of  commercial  resistance  which  had 
been  recommended,  and  after  having  declared  their  confidence  that 
they  would  prove  efficacious  if  persisted  in  with  fidelity  and  virtue, 
they  concluded  with  saying : 

"Your  own  salvation,  and  that  of  your  posterity,  now  depends 
upon  yourselves.  You  have  already  shown  that  you  entertain  a 
proper  sense  of  the  blessings  you  are  striving  to  retain  against  the 
temporary  inconvenience  you  may  suffer  from  a  stoppage  of  trade  ; 
you  will  weigh  in  the  opposite  balance  the  endless  miseries  you  and 
your  descendants  must  endure  from  an  established  arbitrary  power; 
you  will  not  forget  the  honour  of  your  country,  that  must,  from  your 
behaviour,  take  its  title,  in  the  estimation  of  the  world,  to  glory  or  to 
shame  ;  and  you  will,  with  the  deepest  attention,  reflect,  that  if  the 
peaceable  mode  of  opposition  recommended  by  us  be  broken  and 
rendered  ineffectual,  as  your  cruel  and  haughty  ministerial  enemies, 
from  a  contemptuous  opinion  of  your  firmness,  insolently  predict 
will  be  the  case,  you  must  inevitably  be  reduced  to  choose  either  a 
more  dangerous  contest,  or  a  final,  infamous,  and  ruinous  submis 
sion. 

«  Motives  thus  cogent,  arising  from  the  emergency  of  your  un 
happy  condition,  must  excite  your  utmost  diligence  and  zeal  to 
give  all  possible  strength  and  energy  to  the  pacific  measures  calcu- 


166  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

lated  for  your  relief.  But  we  think  ourselves  bound  in  duty  to 
observe  to  you,  that  the  schemes  agitated  against  these  colonies 
have  been  so  conducted  as  to  render  it  prudent  that  you  should 
extend  your  views  to  mournful  events,  and  be  in  all  respects  pre 
pared  for  every  contingency.  Above  all  thin^,  we  earnestly  en 
treat  you,  with  devotion  of  Spirit,  penitence  of  heart,  and  amend 
ment  of  life,  to  humble  yourselves,  and  implore  the  favour  of  Al 
mighty  God  ;  and  we  fervently  beseech  his  Divine  goodness  to  take 
you  into  his  gracious  protection." 

They  called  upon  the  Canadians  to  make  common  cause  with 
their  fellow-colonists,  and  to  elect  delegates  to  the  Continental 
Congress. 

After  directing  these  several  addresses  to  be  distributed,  and 
recommending  that  another  Congress  should  be  held  at  Philadel 
phia  on  the  10th  of  May  following,  unless  a  redress  of  grievances 
should,  before  that  time,  be  obtained,  they,  on  the  26th  of  October, 
dissolved  their  assembly,  and  the  members  returned  to  their  re 
spective  homes.  Shortly  after  Patrick  Henry  returned  to  Virginia, 
he  was  asked  by  a  friend,  who  was  the  first  man  in  the  Congress 
which  had  met  at  Philadelphia.  He  replied,  "If  you  speak  of 
eloquence,  Mr.  Rutledge  of  South  Carolina  is  by  far  the  greatest 
orator  ;  but  if  you  speak  of  solid  information  and  sound  judgment, 
Colonel  Washington  is  unquestionably  the  greatest  man  on  that 
floor.* 

HE  proceedings  of  this  Congress  were  viewed 
throughout  America  with  enthusiastic  admira 
tion.  Though  they  claimed  no  authority  as  a 
legislative  assembly,  yet  their  resolutions  were 
almost  unanimously  received  as  the  most  binding 
enactments.  A  thorough  conviction  of  the  recti 
tude  of  their  cause  awakened  the  whole  community  to  the  most 
vigorous  exertions.  Independent  military  companies  were  formed 
throughout  the  provinces,  and  a  presentiment  of  an  approaching 
wrar  spread  itself  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land. 

The  petition  from  Congress  to  the  king  arrived  in  England, 
when  his  majesty  was  just  about  to  meet  a  new  parliament.  In 
the  speech  from  the  throne,  he  announced,  "that  a  most  daring 
spirit  of  resistance  and  disobedience  to  the  laws  unhappily  pre 
vailed  in  the  colony  of  Massachusetts ;"  and,  at  the  same  time, 
intimated  the  steps  which  he  considered  necessary  to  repress  it. 
A  short  delay,  however,  occurred  before  active  measures  were 

*  Wirt's  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,  p.  113. 


THE    EARL    OF    CHATHAM. 


167 


THE     EA.HI,     OF     OH  A.  THAU. 


adopted,  and  hopes  began  to  revive  in  the  breasts  of  the  friends 
of  American  liberty.  Lord  Chatham  yet  lived.  "  That  splendid 
orb  had  not  yet  set  for  ever.  The  Western  horizon  yet  blazed 
with  his  descending  glory  ;"*  and  in  the  House  of  Lords,  to  which 
he  had  lately  been  raised,  he  once  more  threw  the  whole  force  of 
his  mighty  eloquence  into  the  balance  of  liberty,  which  was  now 
vibrating  fearfully  between  peace  and  war. 

He  began  by  offering  a  motion  that  an  humble  address  be  pre 
sented  to  his  majesty,  most  humbly  advising  and  beseeching  him 
to  withdraw  the  royal  forces  from  Boston  ;  and  he  supported  his 
motion  by  one  of  the  most  eloquent  and  impressive  speeches  ever 
delivered  in  the  British  parliament.  He  told  the  House  that  in 
this  distracted  state  of  affairs,  though  bowed  down  with  a  cruel 
disease,  he  had  crawled  thither  to  offer  them  his  best  counsel  and 
experience.  He  urged  the  necessity  of  the  step  he  recommended, 
as  the  means  of  opening  a  way  for  settling  the  dangerous  troubles 
in  America,  by  beginning  to  allay  ferments  and  soften  animosities 
there.  He  said,  an  hour  now  lost  might  produce  years  of  calamity. 

*  Burke. 


168  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

His  object  was  to  put  his  foot  upon  the  threshold  of  peace.  His 
present  motion  was  only  the  introduction  to  a  comprehensive  plan; 
and  he  pledged  himself  to  the  House,  that  he  would  not  desert,  for 
a  moment,  the  conduct  of  this  mighty  business.  Unless  nailed  to 
his  bed  by  the  extremity  of  sickness,  he  would«give  it  his  unremit- 
ted  attention  ;  he  would  knock  at  the  door  of  a  sleeping  and  con 
founded  ministry,  and  rouse  them  to  a  sense  of  their  imminent 
danger.  He  described  the  situation  of  the  troops  at  Boston  as  truly 
unworthy,  being  penned  up,  and  pining  in  inglorious  inactivity. 
He  called  them  an  army  of  impotence  and  contempt  ;  and  to  make 
the  folly  equal  to  the  disgrace,  they  were  an  army  of  irritation. 

After  stating  that  the  Americans  had  been  "  abused,  misrepre 
sented,  and  traduced,  in  the  most  atrocious  manner,  in  order  to 
give  colour,  and  urge  on  the  most  precipitate,  unjust,  cruel,  and 
vindictive  measures  that  ever  disgraced  a  nation,"  he  asks,  "but 
how  have  this  respectable  people  behaved  under  their  grievances  ? 
With  unexampled  patience,  with  unparalleled  wisdom.  They  chose 
delegates  by  their  free  suffrages  ;  no  bribery,  no  corruption,  no 
influence  there,  my  lords.  Their  representatives  meet  with  the 
sentiments,  and  temper,  and  speak  the  sense  of  the  continent. 
For  myself,  I  must  avow,  that  in  all  my  reading  and  observation  — 
and  I  have  read  Thucydides,  and  have  studied  and  admired  the 
master  states  of  the  world  —  I  find  nothing  recorded  in  antiquity, 
which,  in  genuine  sagacity,  in  singular  moderation,  in  solid 
wisdom,  manly  spirit,  sublime  sentiments,  and  simplicity  of 
language,  in  every  thing  respectable  and  honourable,  that  can 
rival  the  despised  Congress  of  Philadelphia.  This  wise  people 
speak  out.  They  do  not  hold  the  language  of  slaves  ;  they  tell 
you  what  they  mean.  They  do  not  ask  you  to  repeal  your  laws 
as  a  favour  ;  they  claim  it  as  a  right,  they  demand  it.  They 
tell  you  they  will  not  submit  to  them  ;  and  I  tell  you  the  acts 
must  be  repealed  ;  they  will  be  repealed  ;  you  cannot  enforce 
them.  The  ministry  are  checkmated;  they  have  a  move  to  make 
on  the  board  ;  yet  not  a  move,  they  are  ruined.  Repeal,  therefore, 
my  lords,  I  say.  But  bare  repeal  will  not  satisfy  this  enlightened, 
and  spirited  people.  It  is  not  repealing  this  or  that  act  of  parlia 
ment  ;  not  the  annihilation  of  a  few  shreds  of  parchment,  that  can 
restore  America  to  your  bosom.  You  must  go  through  the  work  — 
you  must  declare  you  have  no  right  to  tax  —  you  must  repeal  her 
fears  and  resentments  ;  and  you  may  then  hope  for  her  love  and 
gratitude. 

«  The  cause  of  America  is  the  cause  of  every  true  Whig.     This 


THE    EARL    OF    CHATHAM.  169 

glorious  spirit  animates  three  millions  of  men  in  our  colonies.  What 
shall  oppose  this  spirit,  aided  by  the  congenial  flame,  glowing  in 
the  breast  of  every  whig  in  England,  to  the  amount,  I  hope,  of  double 
the  American  numbers  ?  ^Jrelan<Vthey  have  to  a  man. )  Nay,  what 
dependence  can  you  have  upon  your  soldiery,  the  unhappy  instru 
ments  of  your  wrath  ?  They  are  Englishmen,  W7ho  must  feel  for  the 
privileges  of  Englishmen  ;  and  their  carrying  muskets  and  bayonets 
about  them  surely  does  not  exclude  them  from  the  pale  of  the  civil 
community.  Foreign  war  hangs  over  your  heads,  by  a  slight  and 
brittle  thread.  France  and  Spain  are  watching  your  conduct,  and 
waiting  for  the  maturity  of  your  errors." 

HIS  animated  harangue  was  concluded  in 
the  following  emphatic  manner.  "My 
lords,  if  the  ministers  thus  persevere  in 
misadvising  the  king,  he  will  be  undone. 
He  may,  indeed,  still  wear  his  crown,  but, 
the  American  jewel  out  of  it,  it  will  not 
be  worth  the  wearing.  I  must  not  say 
the  king  is  betrayed  ;  but  this  I  will  say, 
the  nation  is  ruined." 

It  was  all  in  vain.    The  motion  of  Lord 
Chatham,  though  supported  by  Lord  Cam- 
den,  Lord  Shelburne,  and  the  Marquis  of 
Rockingham,   was   rejected   by  a   large 
majority.     Parliament  seemed  determined  on  coercion. 

The  crisis  was  at  hand.  On  the  9th  of  February,  1775,  a  joint 
address  of  both  houses  of  parliament  was  presented  to  the  king, 
declaring  that  "  a  rebellion  actually  existed  in  the  province  of  Mas 
sachusetts."  This  was  followed  by  a  vote,  adding  4400  land  troops 
and  2000  seamen  to  the  military  and  naval  forces  of  the  kingdom  ; 
and  this,  in  close  succession,  was  followed  by  the  passage  of  an  act 
restraining  the  commerce  of  all  the  colonies,  except  New  York, 
Delaware,  and  North  Carolina,  to  Great  Britain,  Ireland,  and  the 
West  Indies,  and  to  prevent  them  from  fishing  on  the  banks  of  New 
foundland,  under  certain  conditions,  and  for  a  limited  time.  The 
exceptions  in  this  case  may  have  been  designed  to  create  disunion 
among  the  colonies ;  but  it  only  served  to  draw  them  closer  to 
gether. 

After  this  series  of  coercive  measures,  Lord  North,  the  premier, 

surprised  the  House  by  a  conciliatory  proposition.     He  procured 

the  passage  of  an  act,  declaring  that  parliament  would  forbear  to 

tax  any  colony  which  should  tax  itself  to  such  an  amount  as  govern- 

22  P 


170  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

ment  might  deem  satisfactory.  On  the  introduction  of  this  measure 
Lord  North  exposed  himself  to  a  hot  fire  from  his  usual  supporters, 
who  branded  the  attempt  as  grossly  inconsistent  with  all  his  former 
measures.  So  warmly  was  he  opposed  by  his  friends,  that  he  was 
compelled  to  give  them  an  explanation,  which  he  did  in  the  follow 
ing  words :  "If  this  bill  does  no  good  in  the  colonies,  it  will  do 
good  here  ;  it  will  unite  the  people  of  England,  by  holding  out  to 
them  a  distinct  object  of  revenue."  He  added  further,  «  As  it  tends 
to  unite  England,  it  is  likely  to  disunite  America ;  for  if  only  one 
province  accept  the  offer,  their  confederacy,  which  alone  makes 
them  formidable,  will  be  broken." 

This  bill,  which  was  thus  unblushingly  advocated,  passed  into  a 
law,  but  as  it  remedied  no  grievance  but  that  of  taxation,  and  even 
on  that  head  contained  nothing  specific,  it  wras  received  in  America 
with  mingled  indignation  and  derision. 

Mr.  Burke,  on  the  25th  of  March,  brought  fonvard,  and  eloquently 
supported,  a  series  of  resolutions,  in  which,  without  entering  into 
any  question  of  speculative  right,  a  complete  practical  concession 
wras  made  of  all  the  points  in  dispute.  His  resolutions  were  nega 
tived.  The  general  tendency  of  his  speech  may  be  learned  from 
the  language  of  Mr.  Fox  respecting  it.  "Let  gentlemen,"  he  said, 
«  read  this  speech  by  day,  and  meditate  on  it  by  night ;  let  them 
peruse  it  again  and  again,  study  it,  imprint  it  on  their  mindsr  im 
press  it  on  their  hearts.  They  would  then  learn  that  representation 
was  the  sovereign  remedy  for  every  evil." 

Dr.  Franklin,  who  was  then  in  London,  endeavoured  to  effect 
a  reconciliation  by  drawing  up  seventeen  propositions,  wrhich,  with 
permission,  he  submitted  to  the  ministry.  Two  months  after  their 
delivery  an  answer  was  returned  virtually  granting  all  that  he  asked, 
except  the  abolition  of  the  new  constitution  of  Massachusetts. 
Franklin  answered,  that  the  claim  of  altering  the  charters  and  rights 
upon  wrhich  the  governments  were  founded,  without  the  consent  of 
the  parties  to  whom  they  wTere  granted,  was  one  to  which  Americans 
could  never  submit.  The  obstinate  refusal  of  the  cabinet  to  restore 
the  ancient  charter  of  Massachusetts,  broke  off  the  communications, 
and  Franklin,  despairing  of  the  continuance  of  peace,  returned  to 
America,  resolved  to  share  in  her  trials,  and  devote  his  talents  to 
the  maintenance  of  her  rights. 

In  the  mean  time,  affairs  in  America  were  inevitably  hurried  on 
in  the  course  to  which  they  had  long  been  tending.  General  Gage, 
who  had  summoned  the  Massachusetts  Assembly,  to  meet  at  Salem, 
on  the  5th  of  October,  1774,  felt  that  in  the  tumultuary  state  of  the 


GENERAL    GAGE'S    OPERATIONS.  171 

country,  he  could  not  with  safety  repair  thither  to  open  it.  Learn 
ing  also  that  of  thirty-six  counsellors  named  by  him,  though  twenty- 
four  had  at  first  accepted,  the  greater  number  were  induced  or 
compelled  to  resign,  he  issued  a  proclamation  countermanding  the 
writs  ;  but  the  members,  treating  it  as  illegal,  repaired  at  the  time 
appointed  to  Salem.  There  they  went  through  the  form  of  wait 
ing  a  day,  as  if  for  the  governor,  and  then  removed  their  sittings 
to  Concord,  about  twenty  miles  in  the  interior.  Hence  they  sent 
out  directions  for  all  the  branches  of  administration,  the  disciplin 
ing  of  the  militia,  the  retaining  of  the  taxes  in  the  hands  of  the 
revenue-officers  for  patriotic  purposes,  and  the  collection  of  arms 
and  ammunition.  They  remonstrated  with  Gage  on  the  increase 
of  troops,  the  fortifying  of  Boston,  and  other  hostile  proceedings  ; 
but  he  repelled  their  complaints,  and  warned  them  that  their  own 
meeting  was  altogether  illegal.  He  had  again  recourse  to  a  pro 
clamation  enjoining  that  no  regard  should  be  paid  to  their  usurped 
authority,  instead  of  which,  his  mandates  were  entirely  disregarded, 
while  theirs  met  with  implicit  obedience.  They  adjourned,  but 
met  again  by  appointment  at  Cambridge,  on  the  4th  of  February. 
They  then  announced  to  the  people  that  the  tenor  of  the  king's 
speech,  and  other  information,  afforded  little  prospect  of  compliance 
with  their  reasonable  demands  ;  on  the  contrary,  numerous  reinforce 
ments  were  expected,  in  order  to  compel  ignominious  submission. 
The  most  strenuous  invitations  were  therefore  employed  to  induce 
them  to  improve  their  military  discipline,  and  to  collect  fire-arms 
and  bayonets. 

General  Gage  had  hitherto,  probably  under  instructions  from 
home,  avoided  every  movement  which  would  bring  on  a  collision 
and  lead  to  a  commencement  of  actual  war.  Yet,  remaining  almost 
besieged  at  Boston,  he  began  to  experience  scarcity  of  provisions ; 
and  an  impression  was  felt,  that  something  must  be  done  to  check 
these  extensive  preparations  and  seize  the  military  stores  now  col 
lected  all  over  the  country.  He  formed  the  injudicious  plan  of 
sending  out  secretly  small  detachments  to  capture  them  by  sur 
prise.  Even  if  successful,  which  was  not  very  probable,  the  adop 
tion  of  such  a  scheme  must  have  lowered  the  impression  of  British 
power.  If  the  troops  were  to  march  into  the  country,  it  should  have 
been  in  such  large  bodies  as  would  overpower,  and  even  deter 
resistance.  A  small  party  sent  towards  Salem,  were  induced  to 
return,  owing  to  the  mere  obstacles  raised  by  the  country  people 
against  their  march.* 

*  Murray's  History  of  the  United  States. 


172  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

The  governor  having  learned  that  a  considerable  magazine  of 
stores  had  been  formed  at  Concord,  determined  on  an  attempt  to 
seize  them.  He  employed  a  larger  force,  but  trusted  still  to  se 
crecy  and  surprise.  On  the  night  of  the  18th  of  April,  1775,  he 
detached  from  his  garrison  for  this  purpose,  eight  hundred  picked 
men,  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant-colonel  Smith,  who  sought 
the  more  effectually  to  conceal  his  march,  by  sending  forward 
horsemen  to  arrest  all  travellers  on  the  road.  But,  notwithstanding 
every  precaution,  startling  indications  of  wakefulness  presented 
themselves  on  every  side.  Dr.  Warren,  of  Boston,  had,  by  some 
means,  obtained  information  of  the  intended  expedition,  and  no 
sooner  had  the  detachment  started,  than  the  intelligence  was  borne, 
as  quick  as  light  could  carry  it,  from  the  steeple  of  the  old  town- 
house,  glancing  from  every  hill-top,  and  confirmed  by  the  ringing 
of  alarm-bells,  until  it  reached  every  point  within  a  circle  of  thirty 
miles  around  Boston.  As  the  British  troops  marched  along  the 
road  in  the  early  morning  twilight,  they  saw  men  on  horseback 
hurrying  along  from  point  to  point,  with  determination  and  indig 
nation  stamped  upon  their  countenances.  As  no  one  offered  any 
opposition  to  their  march,  their  courage  soon  revived,  and  they 
arrived  at  the  village  of  Lexington  about  five  o'clock  on  the  morning 
of  the  19th,  in  high  spirits.  There  they  found  about  a  hundred 
militia-men  drawn  up  under  arms,  ua  the  green  before  the  meeting 
house.  Major  Pitcairn,  galloping  up,  in  no  very  courteous  terms, 
ordered  them  to  disperse  ;  and,  on  their  hesitating  to  obey  his 
commands,  he  discharged  his  pistol,  and  ordered  his  soldiers  to 
fire.  By  the  discharge  which  followed,  three  or  four  of  the  militia 
were  killed,  and  the  rest  retreated  behind  the  church  and  dispersed. 
After  this  slight  skirmish,  this  opening  of  the  tragedy,  Lieutenant- 
colonel  Smith  proceeded  on  his  march  until  he  reached  the  town 
of  Concord,  of  which  he  took  possession  unopposed.  He  then 
detached  parties  to  guard  the  approaches  to  the  town,  while  the 
main  body  proceeded  to  destroy  the  arms,  ammunition,  and  provi 
sions,  which  were  found  in  store.  A  detachment,  sent  forward  to 
occupy  a  bridge,  was  surrounded  by  a  body  of  militia  and  minute- 
inen,  who,  having  approached  in  the  guise  of  travellers,  were  op 
posed  and  fired  upon.  A  general  skirmish  commenced,  which 
ended  in  the  confused  retreat  of  the  detachment  towards  the  main 
body  in  the  town.  Smith  immediately  ordered  a  retreat.  The 
militia,  increasing  in  numbers,  commenced  a  series  of  desultory 
attacks  ;  and,  without  concert,  organization,  or  orders,  maintained 
a  galling  fire  upon  the  front,  flanks,  and  rear  of  the  retreating 


THE    BATTLE    OF    LEXINGTON.  173 

column,  from  behind  houses,  walls,  and  trees.  When  the  British 
arrived  at  Lexington,  they  found  themselves  in  a  most  exhausted 
state  ;  and  they  would,  no  doubt,  have  been  totally  destroyed,  had 
not  General  Gage,  apprehensive  for  the  fate  of  the  expedition,  sent 
forward  Lord  Percy,  in  the  morning,  with  sixteen  companies  of 
foot,  a  corps  of  marines,  and  two  pieces  of  artillery,  to  support 
Lieutenant-colonel  Smith.  The  retreating  and  advancing  detach 
ments  entered  Lexington  at  opposite  points,  at  the  same  time,  and 
the  latter,  with  their  field-pieces,  checked  the  fierce  pursuit  of  the 
provincials,  while  the  former  were  resuming  order,  and  putting 
themselves  in  a  better  posture  of  defence.  All  together  then  pro 
ceeded  towards  Boston,  while  the  assailants,  without  attempting  to 
obstruct  their  march,  kept  up  an  incessant  fire,  both  in  front  and 
rear,  from  behind  stone  wralls,  which  lined  the  road  along  the 
greater  part  of  the  route.  The  British  forces  arrived,  exhausted 
and  wearied,  at  Bunker's  Hill,  near  Boston,  a  little  after  sunset, 
having  sustained  a  loss  of  sixty-five  killed,  one  hundred  and  eighty 
wounded,  and  twenty-eight  prisoners.  The  loss  of  the  Americans 
was  fifty  killed  and  thirty-four  wounded. 

The  intelligence  of  this  event  excited  the  utmost  enthusiasm 
throughout  Massachusetts,  and  the  whole  country  was  soon  put  in 
warlike  array.  The  first  blood  was  shed  in  defence  of  American 
rights,  and  without  adequate  provocation.  The  militia  had  met  in 
open  conflict  with  the  proud  army  of  England  and  overthrown  it. 
They  had  come  to  that  conflict  on  a  sudden  summons,  without 
arrangement,  discipline,  or  experience,  every  one  obeying  the 
impulse  of  his  own  patriotism  and  courage ;  and  though  some  were 
roused  from  their  sleep  at  the  dead  of  night,  others  hurried,  half- 
armed,  from  long  distances,  and  others  mingled  in  the  affray,  with 
out  well  knowing  how  it  commenced,  or  what  was  its  object ;  all 
fought  almost  without  thinking,  certainly  without  shrinking,  until 
the  night  closed  upon  vanquished  and  victors  ;  when  the  first  had 
time  to  take  counsel,  or  consider  the  consequences  of  the  unforeseen 
battle  in  which  they  had  engaged,  and  the  unhoped-for  triumph 
which  they  had  won.  Out  of  victory  thus  gained  in  the  first  en 
counter,  arose  a  new  hope  for  the  whole  land.  The  British  cannon 
at  Lexington  dispelled  the  apathy,  as  it  kindled  the  indignation  of 
every  man  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  James's  River ;  and  though 
peace  was  still  assumed  to  be  the  condition  of  the  colonies,  and 
England's  acts  and  language  were  becoming  more  conciliatory, 
both  felt  that  their  differences  were,  from  that  hour,  committed 
to  the  arbitrement  of  the  sword,  and  each  prepared,  at  once,  with 

p2 


174  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

the  utmost  diligence,  for  the  bloody  trial  which  appeared  imminent 
and  inevitable. 

The  sentiments  of  Washington,  in  reference  to  these  events,  may 
be  gathered  from  a  letter  written  by  him  to  George  William  Fair 
fax,  in  England,  dated  at  Philadelphia,  May  31,  1775,  while  he 
was  there  attending  the  Second  Continental  Congress.  It  is  as 
follows : 

«  DEAR  SIR, — Before  this  letter  will  come  to  hand,  you  must 
undoubtedly  have  received  an  account  of  the  engagement  in  the 
Massachusetts  Bay,  between  the  ministerial  troops  (for  we  do  not, 
nor  can  we  yet  prevail  upon  ourselves  to  call  them  the  king's  troops) 
and  the  provincials  of  that  government.  But  as  you  may  not  have 
heard  how  that  affair  began,  I  enclose  you  the  several  affidavits* 
which  were  taken  after  the  action. 

"  General  Gage  acknowledges  that  the  detachment  under  Lieu 
tenant-colonel  Smith  was  sent  out  to  destroy  private  property  ;  or, 
in  other  words,  to  destroy  a  magazine,  which  self-preservation 
obliged  the  inhabitants  to  establish.  And  he  also  confesses,  in 
effect  at  least,  that  his  men  made  a  very  precipitate  retreat  from 
Concord,  notwithstanding  the  reinforcement  under  Lord  Percy  ; 
the  last  of  which  may  serve  to  convince  Lord  Sandwich  and  others 
of  the  same  sentiment,  that  the  Americans  will  fight  for  their  liber 
ties  and  property,  however  pusillanimous,  in  his  lordship's  eye,  they 
may  appear  in  other  respects. 

"  From  the  best  accounts  I  have  been  able  to  collect  of  that  affair, 
indeed  from  every  one,  I  believe,  the  fact,  stripped  of  all  colouring, 
to  be  plainly  this,  that  if  the  retreat  had  not  been  so  precipitate  as 
it  was,  and  God  knows  it  could  not  well  have  been  more  so,  the 
ministerial  troops  must  have  surrendered,  or  been  totally  cut  off. 
For  they  had  not  arrived  in  Charlestown  (under  cover  of  their  ships) 
half  an  hour,  before  a  powerful  body  of  men  from  Marblehead  and 
Salem  was  at  their  heels,  and  must,  if  they  had  happened  to  be  up  one 
hour  sooner,  inevitably  have  intercepted  their  retreat  to  Charlestown. 
Unhappy  it  is,  though,  to  reflect,  that  a  brother's  sword  has  been 
sheathed  in  a  brother's  breast,  and  that  the  once  happy  and  peace 
ful  plains  of  America  are  either  to  be  drenched  with  blood,  or  in 
habited  by  slaves.  Sad  alternative  !  but  can  a  virtuous  man  hesi 
tate  in  his  choice  ?" 

The  Provincial  Congress  of  Massachusetts  being  in  session  at 
the  time  of  the  battle  of  Lexington,  passed  a  vote  for  raising  thir- 

*  These  depositions  were  intended  to  prove  that  the  British  were  the  aggressors, 
and  had  commenced  the  action  at  Lexington. 


THE    PROVINCIAL    ARMY.  175 

teen  thousand  six  hundred  men,  and  called  upon  the  other  New 
England  colonies  to  increase  this  number  to  thirty  thousand. 
These  acts  were  almost  unnecessary,  for  the  provincials  crowded 
to  the  standard  raised  in  defence  of  their  rights,  in  numbers 
greater  than  could  be  maintained  in  the  field ;  and  placed  them 
selves  und^r  the  command  of  Generals  Ward,  Stark,  Putnam, 
and  other  officers,  as  chance  or  their  inclination  suggested.  The 
fortifications  of  Boston  were  considered  sufficiently  strong  to  pre 
clude  the  hazard  of  an  attack ;  and  the  number  of  the  British  in 
garrison  was  increased  by  the  addition  of  ten  thousand  men,  who 
arrived  about  the  same  time  as  Lord  North's  conciliatory  reso 
lution. 

The  provincials,  however,  formed  a  line  of  thirty  miles  in  extent 
around  the  peninsula  on  which  the  town  is  built,  entirely  cutting 
off  its  connection  with  the  surrounding  country. 

Thus  stood  these  two  armies  in  front  of  each  other ;  the  one  on 
the  heights  of  the  town,  and  the  other  on  the  surrounding  hills, 
each  animated  by  powerful,  but  different  impulses  to  begin  that 
contest  which  was  to  decide  the  fate  of  American  liberty.  The 
British,  weary  of  inactivity,  thirsted  to  become  participators  in  the 
glory  which  their  new  generals — Howe,  Burgoyne,  and  Clinton — 
had  won  on  every  debated  field  in  Europe,  over  the  most  disci 
plined  and  tried  valor,  and  which  they  did  not  think  could  be 
perilled  in  open  conflict  with  the  raw,  unorganized  mobs  of  the  co 
lonies.  Even  those  who  shared  in  the  former  short  struggle  and 
sudden  flight,  could  not  admit  that,  on  a  fair  field,  and  in  battle 
order,  they  would  not  be  an  over-match  for  ten  times  their  number 
of  the  provincials.  Surrounding  them  was  the  ocean,  over  whose 
vast  space  spread  their  undisturbed  dominion,  while  their  enemies 
had  not  a  single  shallop  or  a  mounted  gun  along  their  extended 
line  of  coast.  Between  them  and  their  country,  profuse  in  wealth, 
valor,  and  the  munitions  of  war,  there  rose  no  barrier,  nor  could 
even  coward's  fear  suggest  the  apprehension  that  a  country  with 
out  a  single  ship  would  attempt  to  intercept  their  convoys  on  that 
highway  of  nations,  where  the  angry  elements  alone  were  supposed 
to  be  their  rivals.  The  army  was  well  provided  with  stores,  and 
every  thing  necessary  for  aggression  or  defence.  Their  vessels  of 
war  were  moored  around  the  town,  and  so  placed  as  not  only  to 
render  the  narrow  accesses  thereto  impassable,  but,  if  need  be,  to 
reduce  the  town  itself  to  ashes  in  a  single  hour.  And  this  fair  and 
growing  town  was  the  capital  of  the  province,  contained  most  of 


176  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

its  wealth,  was  the  seat  of  its  provincial  assembly,  and  inhabited 
by  thirty  thousand  Americans ;  so  that,  if  ever  they  were,  as  it 
seemed,  blockaded  in  their  city  camp,  they  had  in  their  power  the 
lives  of  nearly  twice  their  own  number  of  the  enemy,  and  not  a 
shell  could  be  thrown  into  their  intrenchments  without  imminent 
risk  of  a  conflagration,  which  would  lay  in  ruins  that  proud,  -rising, 
though,  as  they  thought,  rebellious  city,  so  justly  an  object  of  pride 
and  love  to  the  besieging  army, 

And,  on  the  other  hand,  what  was  that  army  ?  By  this  time 
several  officers  had  assumed  the  command  of  its  different  divisions  ; 
but  they  were  independent  of  each  other,  and  subject  to  no  supe 
rior  ;  nor  did  they  derive  their  rank  from  any  civil  authority.  They 
neither  received  nor  expected  pay  for  that  dangerous  service,  and 
were  kept  together  solely  by  virtuous  patriotism.  The  troops,  if 
such  they  might  be  called,  acknowledged  no  control,  and  though 
they  sat  down  before  the  city,  prepared  to  brave  danger  and  death, 
they  were  bound  by  no  obligation,  save  their  own  courageous  pur 
pose.  The  army  was,  in  fact,  a  multitude  of  men  brought  together 
by  the  impulsive  enthusiasm  of  sudden  emergency ;  but  there  was 
no  instance  of  devotion  in  ancient  or  modern  times  to  suggest  a 
hope  that,  without  provisions,  ammunition,  clothing,  or  pay,  be 
yond  the  uncertain  supplies  which  patriotism  might  furnish,  they 
could  be  maintained,  after  the  first  flush  of  victory  subsided,  or 
necessity  began  to  press  upon  them.  They  had  scarcely  any  of 
the  agencies,  which>  in  all  ages,  enabled  nations  to  wage  success 
ful  war.  Their  first  impulse  to  resistance  arose  from  their  aversion 
to  taxation  ;  and  no  one  man  in  all  the  colonies  would  be  bold 
enough  to  counsel  the  heavier  tax  necessary  to  meet  the  expenses 
of  the  country's  defence ;  nor  was  there  any  constitutional  or  dele 
gated  authority  competent  to  impose  it.  Perhaps  that  great  strug 
gle  presented,  in  all  its  vicissitudes,  no  feature  so  singular  and 
admirable  as  the  mutual  faith  and  trust  which  kept  those  thousands, 
with  their  chiefs,  knit  together,  during  the  doubtful  period  that  in 
tervened  between  the  battle  of  Lexington  and  the  appointment  by 
Congress,  of  a  commander-in-chief,  who  was  to  reduce  to  order, 
discipline,  and  efficiency,  the  elements  of  resistance  which  his 
country  presented,  and  lead  these  raw  troops,  at  first  to  desperate 
struggles,  sure  of  defeat,  and  finally  to  victory  and  glory. 

In  the  provincial  army  there  were  many  men  of  eminent  abilities 
and  tried  patriotism.  There  were  generals,  and  colonels,  and  cap 
tains;  but  among  them  all,  there  was  not  one  moulding  mind, 


EXPLOITS    OF    COLONEL    ARNOLD.  177 

having  confidence  and  power  to  undertake  the  management  of  the 
whole,  so  as  to  secure  the  means  of  making  a  permanent  stand  for 
the  liberties  of  the  country.  The  salvation  of  America,  at  this 
juncture,  depended  on  the  cordiality  of  co-operation  which  pre 
vailed  in  the  camp.  Each  chief  confined  the  sphere  of  his  action 
to  his  own  immediate  duties,  and  none  thought  of  supplanting  or 
overruling  his  brother  officer,  while  every  man  in  the  army  must 
have  felt  that  his  personal  responsibility  extended  to  the  entire 
defence  of  his  country.  Hence,  he  was  indifferent  where,  or  under 
whom  he  served,  and  was  eager  to  perform  any  duty,  the  only  emu 
lation  between  him  and  his  fellows  being,  who  could  do  the  best 
service  and  incur  the  greater  peril.  There  is  no  trial  of  a  man's 
courage  so  severe  as  uncertainty ;  nor  was  there  ever  on  earth  an 
instance  when  uncertainty  prevailed  to  as  great  an  extent,  as  during 
the  first  struggle  of  the  people  of  Massachusetts.  They  knew  not 
what  resolution  the  other  states  had  come  to.  From  the  great 
extent  of  the  country,  and  the  delays  and  difficulties  of  holding 
communications,  the  people  of  New  England  might  have  been 
scattered  by  the  invading  army  long  before  those  of  Virginia  or  the 
Carolinas  had  intelligence  of  their  first  resistance,  or  could  even 
determine  either  on  giving  or  refusing  aid  ;  yet  wras  there  none 
found  to  falter  or  to  hesitate ;  and  all  trusted  that  the  same  just  cause, 
in  defence  of  which  they  took  up  arms,  would  find  volunteers 
throughout  every  part  of  the  continent.  They  calculated  truly,  for 
while  the  camp  was  recruited  by  almost  every  young  man  in  Mas 
sachusetts,  and  even  the  old  and  feeble  attended  them  with  what 
ever  means  they  could  spare,  and  drove  to  the  camp,  from  hamlet 
and  farm,  cart  loads  of  provisions,  which  were  bestowed  not  merely 
without  a  price,  but  with  a  benediction  ;  the  committees  of  corre 
spondence  in  every  other  colony  were  actively  engaged  in  preparing 
for  the  common  defence.* 

Meantime,  while  the  British  were  thus  penned  up  in  Boston,  an 
adventurous  scheme  was  formed  by  two  determined  provincial 
leaders,  Colonels  Arnold  and  Allen.  Collecting  a  small  body  of 
men  in  Connecticut,  they  proceeded  against  the  fortresses  of  Crown 
Point  and  Ticonderoga,  the  keys  of  Canada ;  those  against  which 
so  many  expeditions  were  planned  during  the  French  War.  Tra 
versing,  undiscovered,  the  immense  wilderness  which  then  stretched 
across  the  north  of  New  England,  they  completely  surprised  and 
captured,  without  the  loss  of  a  man,  both  these  important  places, 

*  Doheny's  History  of  the  American  Revolution. 
23 


178  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

each  containing  a  valuable  and  much  needed  supply  of  military 
stores.  Colonel  Arnold  was  equally  successful  against  a  sloop  of 
war  lying  at  St.  John's,  and  thus  obtained  the  command  of  Lake 
Champlain,  by  the  capture  of  the  first  vessel  that  ever  belonged  to 
the  American  Navy. 


FUME     OF    THE     BRITISH     INFANTRY,     1775. 


AFFAIRS    IN    VIRGINIA. 


179 


STATE     HOUSE     AND     CONGRESS     HALL,      PHILADELPHIA. 


CHAPTER    X. 


E  AN  WHILE  the  alarming  state  of  the 
country,  and  the  prospect  of  war  at  no 
very  distant  day,  had  led  the  people  of 
the  different  provinces  to  form  various 
schemes  for  the  defence  of  their  liberties 
and  property.  In  Virginia,  they  resorted 
to  the  practice  pursued  by  Pennsylvania 
and  Maryland  during  the  French  war, 
of  forming  themselves  into  independ 
ent  companies,  throughout  the  different 
counties,  for  the  purpose  of  military  training,  and  to  secure  some 
degree  of  organization.  These  companies  acted  independently  of 
each  other,  choosing  their  own  officers,  from  the  rank  of  captain 
down.  They  adopted  such  uniforms  as  they  pleased,  and  provided 
themselves  with  arms,  ammunition,  drums,  and  colours.  As  soon 
as  war  was  apprehended,  several  of  these  companies  solicited 
Colonel  Washington  to  take  them  under  his  command.  He  always 
acceded  to  these  requests,  and  aided  them  materially  in  procuring 


180  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

equipments,  and  in  perfecting  their  discipline.  On  one  occasion 
he  was  very  near  being  brought  into  an  active  command  of  these 
companies.  The  hasty  step  of  Governor  Dunmore,  in  causing  the 
powder  to  be  secretly  removed  from  the  magazine  in  William sburg, 
and  placed  on  board  one  of  his  majesty's  ships  in  the  river,  roused 
the  indignation,  and  kindled  the  martial  spirit  of  the  whole  colony. 
The  independent  companies  flew  instantly  to  their  arms,  and 
resolved  to  march  to  Williamsburg,  and  compel  the  governor,  by 
force,  to  restore  the  powder.*  For  this  purpose  upwards  of  seven 
hundred  men  assembled  at  Fredericksburg ;  but  the  governor, 
having  promised  to  arrange  the  affair  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  peo 
ple,  a  council  of  deputies  from  the  several  companies  was  held,  in 
which,  after  much  warm  discussion,  it  was  resolved  that  they 
should  all  return  home,  but  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  march 
at  any  future  alarm  at  a  moment's  warning. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Second  Virginia  Convention  met  at  Rich 
mond  on  the  20th  of  March.  They  had  scarcely  come  together 
when  Patrick  Henry  introduced  a  series  of  resolutions  for  putting 
the  colony  in  a  state  of  defence,  and  for  imbodying,  arming,  and 
disciplining  for  that  purpose  a  sufficient  number  of  men.  The 
boldness  of  these  resolutions  caused  many  of  the  ablest  patriots  of 
the  province  to  oppose  them.  It  was  in  support  of  them  that  Henry 
was  led  to  utter  that  memorable  declaration  :  «  We  must  fight !  I 
repeat  it,  sir,  we  must  fight !  An  appeal  to  arms  and  to  the  God 
of  hosts  is  all  that  is  left  us  !"  The  resolutions  were  carried,  and 
Washington  was  appointed  on  a  committee  to  report  a  plan  for 
putting  them  in  execution.  The  former  deputies  were  appointed 
to  the  Continental  Congress,  which  was  summoned  to  meet  on  the 
10th  of  May,  except  that  Thomas  Jefferson  was  substituted  for 
Peyton  Randolph,  in  case  the  latter  should  not  be  able  to  attend. 

Four  days  after  the  return  of  the  independent  companies  from 
Fredericksburg,  Colonel  Washington  left  Mount  Vernon  to  attend 
the  meeting  of  the  Second  Continental  Congress ;  \vhich  assem 
bled  at  Philadelphia,  on  the  10th  of  May,  1775.  Twelve  of  the 
colonies  were  represented,  and  before  the  close  of  the  session,  they 
had  the  satisfaction  of  admitting  delegates  from  Georgia,  the  thir 
teenth,  to  a  participation  in  their  deliberations.  The  prudence  and 
caution  with  which  these  deliberations  were  conducted,  show  that 
the  object  of  this  justly  celebrated  council  was  not  an  open  rupture 
with  England.  Peyton  Randolph  was  again  unanimously  chosen 
president,  but  urgent  business  soon  after  requiring  his  presence 

*  Note  to  Washington's  Writings,  by  Jared  Sparks,  vol.  ii.  p.  507. 


ADDRESS   TO   THE   PEOPLE    OF    ENGLAND.      181 

at  home,  he  was  succeeded  by  John  Hancock.     Charles  Thomson 
was  re-elected  secretary. 

Early  in  the  session,  an  official  account  of  the  hostilities  at  Lex 
ington  and  Concord,  and  of  the  capture  of  Crown  Point  and  Ticon- 
deroga,  was  laid  before  them.  Some  of  the  members  were  unpre 
pared  for  so  serious  a  result ;  but  the  majority,  seeing  no  other 
way  of  preserving  their  liberties  inviolate,  urged  the  necessity  of 
defensive  operations.  Accordingly,  on  the  26th  of  May,  after  stat 
ing  the  dangerous  and  critical  situation  of  the  colonies,  from  the 
attempts  to  carry  into  execution,  by  force,  several  unconstitutional 
acts  of  parliament,  from  the  actual  hostilities  committed  in  Massa 
chusetts,  and  from  the  large  number  of  troops  daily  expected, 
with  the  same  hostile  views,  Congress  unanimously  determined, 
"  that  for  the  express  purpose  of  securing  these  colonies,  and  pre 
serving  them  in  safety,  against  all  attempts  to  carry  said  acts  into 
execution,  by  force  of  arms,  the  colonies  be  placed  in  a  state  of 
defence."  Still,  before  attempting  any  active  measures,  they  de 
termined,  though  with  a  few  dissentient  voices,  to  make  another 
attempt  at  reconciliation,  by  a  second  solemn  appeal  to  the  king. 
Nor  did  they  confine  themselves  to  a  petition  to  his  majesty ;  they 
again  addressed  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  and  of  the  province  of 
Quebec  ;  and  also  sent  an  address  to  the  inhabitants  of  Ireland, 
and  a  letter  to  those  of  the  island  of  Jamaica.* 

0  the  king,  f  they  expressed,  as  strongly  as 
ever, .  their  devotion  to  his  person,  family,  and 
government ;  their  deep  regret  at  any  event 
which  could  weaken  their  connection  with  his 
crown,  and  their  ardent  desire  for  the  restoration 
of  harmony. 

The  address  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain  | 
is  eminently  distinguished  for  its  magnanimity 
and  eloquence.     Even  its  opening,  which  is  as 
follows,  is  remarkable  : 

"  THE  TWELVE  UNITED  COLONIES,  BY  THEIR  DELEGATES  IN  CON 
GRESS,  TO  THE  INHABITANTS  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN. 

"  Friends,  countrymen,  and  brethren, — 

"  By  these,  and  by  every  other  appellation  that  may  designate 
ihe  ties  which  bind  us  to  each  other,  we  entreat  your  serious 

*  Pitkin,  vol.  i.  330. 

j"  The  address  to  the  king  was  drawn  up  by  Mr.  Dickinson. 

i  Said  to  have  been  written  by  R.  H.  Lee. 

Q 


182  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

attention  to  this,  our  second  attempt  to  prevent  their  dissolution. 
Remembrance  of  former  friendships,  pride  in  the  glorious  achieve 
ments  of  our  common  ancestors,  and  affection  for  the  heirs  of  their 
virtue,  have  hitherto  preserved  our  mutual  connection.  But  when 
that  friendship  is  violated  by  the  grossest  injuries,  when  the  pride 
of  ancestry  becomes  our  reproach,  and  we  are  no  otherwise  allied 
than  as  tyrants  and  slaves,  when  reduced  to  the  melancholy  alter 
native  of  renouncing  your  favour  or  our  freedom,  can  we  hesitate 
about  the  choice  ?  Let  the  spirit  of  Britons  determine." 

After  again  recapitulating  former  injuries,  and  stating  the  recent 
acts  of  hostility  by  the  wanton  destruction  of  their  lives,  as  well 
as  property,  they  seriously  ask,  «  whether  the  descendants  of  Bri 
tons  could  tamely  submit  to  this  ?  No,"  they  add,  "  we  never 
will, — while  we  revere  the  memory  of  our  gallant  and  virtuous  an 
cestors,  we  never  can  surrender  those  glorious  privileges,  for  which 
they  fought,  bled,  and  conquered." 

«  Admit,"  they  tell  them,  "  that  your  fleets  and  armies  can  de 
stroy  our  towns,  and  ravage  our  coasts ;  these  are  inconsiderable 
objects,  things  of  no  moment  to  men  whose  bosoms  glow  with  the 
ardour  of  liberty.  We  can  retire  beyond  the  reach  of  your  navy, 
and  without  any  sensible  diminution  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  en 
joy  a  luxury,  which,  from  that  period,  you  will  want, — the  luxury 
of  being  free." 

They  again  repel  the  charge  of  aiming  at  independence. 

«  Our  enemies  charge  us  with  sedition.  In  what  does  it  con 
sist  ?  In  our  refusal  to  submit  to  unwarrantable  acts  of  injus 
tice  and  cruelty  ?  If  so,  show7  us  a  period  in  your  history,  in  which 
you  have  not  been  equally  seditious. 

"We  are  accused  of  aiming  at  independence;  but  how  is  this 
accusation  supported  ?  By  the  allegations  of  your  ministers,  not 
by  our  actions.  Abused,  insulted,  and  contemned,  what  steps 
have  we  pursued  to  obtain  redress  ?  We  have  carried  our  dutiful 
petitions  to  the  throne.  We  have  applied  to  your  justice  for  relief. 
We  have  retrenched  our  luxury,  and  withheld  our  trade. 

"The  advantages  of  our  commerce  were  designed  as  a  compen 
sation  for  your  protection  :  when  you  ceased  to  protect,  for  what 
were  we  to  compensate  ? 

"  WThat  has  been  the  success  of  our  endeavours  ?  The  clemency 
of  our  sovereign  is  unhappily  diverted  ;  our  petitions  are  treated 
with  indignity  ;  our  prayers  answered  by  insults.  Our  applica 
tion  to  you  remains  unnoticed,  and  leaves  us  the  melancholy 


ADDRESS   TO   THE   PEOPLE   OF   ENGLAND.      183 

apprehension  of  your  wanting  either  the  will  or  the  power  to  as 
sist  us. 

« Even  under  these  circumstances,  what  measures  have  we 
taken  that  betray  a  desire  of  independence  ?  Have  we  called  in 
the  aid  of  those  foreign  powers,  who  are  the  rivals  of  your  gran 
deur?  When  your  troops  were  few  and  defenceless,  did  we  take 
advantage  of  their  distress,  and  expel  them  our  towns  ?  Or  have 
we  permitted  them  to  fortify,  to  receive  new  aid,  and  to  acquire 
additional  strength  ? 

"Let  your  enemies  and  ours  persuade  you,  that  in  this  we 
were  influenced  by  fear,  or  any  other  unworthy  motive.  The  lives 
of  Britons  are  still  dear  to  us.  They  are  the  children  of  our  pa 
rents,  and  an  uninterrupted  intercourse  of  mutual  benefits  had  knit 
the  bonds  of  friendship.  When  hostilities  were  commenced ;  when, 
on  a  late  occasion  we  were  wantonly  attacked  by  your  troops, 
though  we  repelled  their  assaults,  and  returned  their  blows,  yet  we 
lamented  the  wounds  they  obliged  us  to  give  ;  nor  have  we  yet 
learned  to  rejoice  at  a  victory  over  Englishmen. 

"  As  wTe  wish  not  to  colour  our  actions,  or  disguise  our  thoughts, 
we  shall,  in  the  simple  language  of  truth,  avow  the  measures  we 
have  pursued,  the  motives  upon  which  wre  have  acted,  and  our  fu 
ture  designs. 

«  When  our  late  petition  to  the  throne  produced  no  other  effect 
than  fresh  injuries,  and  votes  of  your  legislature,  calculated  to  jus 
tify  every  severity  ;  when  your  fleets  and  your  armies  were  pre 
pared  to  wrest  from  us  our  property,  to  rob  us  of  our  liberties  or 
our  lives  ;  when  the  hostile  attempts  of  General  Gage  evinced  his 
designs,  we  levied  armies  for  our  security  and  defence.  When  the 
powers  vested  in  the  governor  of  Canada  gave  us  reason  to  appre 
hend  danger  from  that  quarter, — and  \ve  had  frequent  intimations 
that  a  cruel  and  savage  enemy  was  to  be  let  loose  upon  the  de 
fenceless  inhabitants  of  our  frontiers, — we  took  such  measures  as 
prudence  dictated,  or  necessity  will  justify. 

"  We  possessed  ourselves  of  Crown  Point  and  Ticonderoga  ; 
yet,  give  us  leave  most  solemnly  to  assure  you,  that  we  have  not 
lost  sight  of  the  object  we  have  ever  had  in  view, — a  reconciliation 
with  you  on  constitutional  principles,  and  a  restoration  of  that 
friendly  intercourse  which,  to  the  advantage  of  both,  we  till  lately 
maintained." 

After  reminding  them,  that  the  loss  of  liberty  in  America  would 
be  only  a  prelude  to  its  loss  in  Great  Britain,  they  conclude,  «  A 
cloud  hangs  over  your  head  and  ours, — ere  this  reaches  you,  it  may 


184  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

probably  burst  upon  us  ;  let  us  then  (before  the  remembrance  of 
former  kindness  is  obliterated)  once  more  repeat  these  appellations, 
which  are  ever  grateful  to  our  ears ;  let  us  entreat  Heaven  to  avert 
our  ruin,  and  the  destruction  that  threatens  our  friends,  brethren, 
and  countrymen  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic." 

The  address  to  the  inhabitants  of  Canada  was  drawn  up  by 
Messrs.  Jay,  Adams,  and  Deane,  and  is  distinguished  by  so  much 
manliness  of  sentiment  and  force  of  expression,  that  it  is  not 
unworthy  of  a  more  particular  notice  in  this  place.  Its  general 
tenor  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  addresses  to  the  people  of  Ireland 
and  the  West  Indies.  "Since  the  conclusion  of  the  war,"  its 
writers  say,  "we  have  been  happy  in  considering  you  as  fellow- 
subjects;  and  from  the  commencement  of  the  present  plan  for  sub 
jugating  the  continent,  we  have  viewed  you  as  fellow-sufferers 
with  us.  As  we  are  both  entitled  by  the  bounty  of  an  indulgent 
Creator  to  freedom,  and  being  both  devoted  by  the  cruel  edicts  of 
a  despotic  administration  to  common  ruin,  we  perceived  the  fate 
of  the  Protestant  and  Catholic  colonies  to  be  strongly  linked  toge 
ther,  and  therefore  invited  you  to  join  with  us  in  resolving  to  be 
free,  and  in  rejecting  with  disdain  the  fetters  of  slavery,  however 
artfully  polished. 

"We  most  sincerely  condole  with  you  on  the  arrival  of  that  day 
in  the  course  of  which  the  sun  shall  not  shine  on  a  single  freeman 
in  all  your  extensive  dominions.  Be  assured  that  your  unmerited 
degradation  has  engaged  the  most  unfeigned  pity  of  your  sister 
colonies,  and  we  flatter  ourselves  you  will  not,  by  tamely  bearing 
the  yoke,  suffer  that  pity  to  be  supplanted  by  contempt. 

"When  hardy  attempts  are  made  to  deprive  men  of  rights  be 
stowed  by  the  Almighty ;  when  avenues  are  cut  through  the  most 
solemn  compacts  for  the  admission  of  despotism  ;  when  the  plighted 
faith  of  government  ceases  to  give  security  to  dutiful  subjects;  and 
when  the  insiduous  stratagems  and  manoeuvres  of  peace  become 
more  terrible  than  the  sanguinary  operations  of  war ;  it  is  high 
time  for  them  to  assert  those  rights,  and  with  honest  indignation 
oppose  the  torrent  of  oppression  rushing  in  upon  them." 

After  assuring  them  that  the  capture  of  the  forts  of  Ticonderoga 
and  Crown  Point  was  only  dictated  by  self-preservation,  they 
strongly  represented  the  subservient  condition  to  which  they  would 
be  reduced  by  closing  with  the  claims  of  Great  Britain,  and  con 
cluded  with  the  following  animated  expressions  :  "We  yet  enter 
tain  hopes  of  your  uniting  with  us  in  the  defence  of  our  common 
liberty  ;  and  there  is  yet  reason  to  believe  that  should  we  join  in 


WASHINGTON    MADE    COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.     185 

imploring  the  attention  of  our  sovereign  to  the  unmerited  and  un 
paralleled  oppressions  of  his  American  subjects,  he  will  at  length 
be  undeceived,  and  forbid  a  licentious  ministry  any  longer  to  riot 
in  the  ruins  of  the  rights  of  mankind." 

HESE  papers,  breathing  the  same  ardent  love 
of  liberty,  containing  the  same  dignified  sen 
timents,  evincing  the  same  determined  pur 
pose  of  soul,  and  the  same  consciousness  of 
the  justice  of  their  cause,  as  those  of  the 
former  session  ;  drawn  up  in  language  no 
less  bold  and  energetic  on  the  subject  of  their 
rights,  or  less  affectionate  towards  those  to 

O  ' 

whom  they  were  addressed,  were  sent  forth 
as  a  last  effort  "to  accommodate  the  unhappy  disputes  between 
Great  Britain  and  her  colonies." 

Having  issued  these  addresses,  Congress  proceeded  at  once  to 
the  adoption  of  such  measures  as  they  considered  necessary  to 
carry  into  effect  their  resolution,  to  put  all  the  colonies  in  a  defen 
sive  position.  All  the  troops  within  their  limits,  and  acknowledg 
ing  their  authority,  were  now  to  be  called  the  Continental  Army : 
committees  were  appointed  to  devise  ways  and  means  for  raising 
and  supporting  it,  supplying  it  with  arms  and  stores,  and  preparing 
regulations  for  its  government.  An  issue  of  paper  money  was 
voted,  to  the  amount  of  three  millions  of  dollars ;  and  a  resolution 
was  passed  appropriating  five  hundred  dollars  a  month,  as  the  pay 
of  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  Continental  Army.  The  next 
object  was  considered  to  be  the  choice  of  a  commander,  and  on 
this  point,  as  on  a  pivot,  the  liberties  of  America  now  rested. 
Hitherto,  the  enthusiasm  of  the  men  had  received  no  check,  from 
their  ability  to  calculate  the  chances,  hazards,  or  duration  of  a  war, 
or  to  balance  against  them  their  own  feeble  resources  and  total 
want  of  military  establishments.  It  is  to  be  supposed  that  a  gene 
ral,  appointed  to  so  precarious  and  dangerous  a  command,  be  his 
experience  ever  so  limited,  must  see  and  measure  at  least  the 
apparent  difficulties  of  his  situation,  and  his  dim  prospect  of  being 
able  to  resist,  for  any  length  of  time,  the  operations  of  one  of  the 
bravest,  best  disciplined,  and  best  prepared  armies  in  the  world. 
The  appointment  of  a  commander  easily  discouraged,  or  of  one 
possessing  but  an  ordinary  degree  of  firmness,  would  have  been 
irretrievably  fatal  to  the  cause. 

There  was  still  another  difficulty  in  the  way  of  selecting  a  com 
mander.  This  difficulty  did  not  arise  from  the  want  of  ability  in 
24  Q2 


186  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

the  candidates  suggested  ;  but  serious  apprehensions  were  enter 
tained  whether  any  person  whom  they  might  select  would  be 
acceptable  to  all  the  colonies.  The  remarkable  weight  of  talents  in 
Virginia,  and  its  wealth  and  forwardness  in  the  great  project,  were 
circumstances  not  to  be  overlooked,  and  whiCh  pointed  to  the 
policy,  if  not  the  necessity,  of  securing  that  powerful  province  by 
this  mark  of  distinction ;  and  which  of  the  sons  of  Virginia  was 
more  deserving  the  honour  than  Colonel  Washington  ?  On  the 
other  hand,  the  existing  army  had  been  raised  wholly  by  the  New- 
England  provinces,  and  to  put  it  under  the  command  of  an  officer 
of  a  distant  province,  was  thought  to  be  a  delicate  and  hazardous 
experiment.  It  was,  however,  of  the  utmost  importance  to  secure 
unanimity  in  the  choice,  and  to  unite  the  whole  continent  in  the 
support  of  the  commander-in-chief. 

Great,  therefore,  was  the  relief  felt  by  the  members,  when  John 
Adams,  the  leading  representative  of  Massachusetts,  "in  discussing 
the  question  respecting  the  army  then  lying  before  Boston,  made  a 
motion  that  it  should  be  adopted  by  the  continent,  and  in  enforcing 
his  motion,  said  it  was  his  intention  to  propose  for  the  office  of 
commander-in-chief,  a  gentleman  from  Virginia,  and  one  of  their 
own  body.  His  remarks  on  the  qualifications  of  this  gentleman 
were  so  pointed,  that  they  were  known  to  apply  only  to  Colonel 
Washington,  who,  upon  hearing  this  reference  to  himself,  imme 
diately  withdrew.  The  appointment  was  deferred  to  a  succeeding 
day,  when  Washington  was  nominated  by  Thomas  Johnson,  a  dele 
gate  from  Maryland.  The  choice  was  by  ballot,  and,  on  counting 
the  votes,  it  was  found  that  he  was  unanimously  elected. "*  This 
was  on  the  15th  of  June,  1775.  When  the  Congress  assembled 
the  next  morning,  the  president  informed  him  officially  that  he 
was  unanimously  chosen  by  the  Continental  Congress  to  be  general 
and  commander-in-chief  of  all  the  forces  raised,  or  to  be  raised, 
for  the  defence  of  the  country. 

He  immediately  arose  in  his  place,  and  accepted  the  appointment 
with  his  usual  and  characteristic  modesty,  diffidence,  and  disinte 
restedness,  in  the  following  address  to  the  president : — «  Though  I 
am  truly  sensible  of  the  high  honour  done  me  in  this  appointment, 
yet  I  feel  great  distress,  from  a  consciousness  that  my  abilities  and 
military  experience  may  not  be  equal  to  the  extensive  and  import 
ant  trust.  However,  as  the  Congress  desire  it,  I  will  enter  upon 
the  momentous  duty,  and  exert  every  power  I  possess  in  their 
service,  and  for  the  support  of  the  glorious  cause.  I  beg  they 

*  Note  to  Washington's  Writings,  by  Sparks,  vol.  iii.  480,  481. 


MOTIVES    OF    WASHINGTON.  187 

will  accept  my  most  cordial  thanks  for  this  distinguished  testimony 
of  their  approbation. 

"But,  lest  some  unlucky  event  should  happen,  unfavourable  to 
my  reputation,  I  beg  it  may  be  remembered  by  every  gentleman  in 
the  room,  that  I  this  day  declare,  with  the  utmost  sincerity,  I  do 
not  think  myself  equal  to  the  command  I  am  honoured  with. 

"As  to  pay,  sir,  I  beg  leave  to  assure  the  Congress,  that,  as  no 
pecuniary  consideration  could  have  tempted  me  to  accept  this 
arduous  employment  at  the  expense  of  my  domestic  ease  and  hap 
piness,  I  do  not  wish  to  make  any  profit  from  it.  I  will  keep  an 
exact  account  of  my  expenses.  Those,  I  doubt  not,  they  will  dis 
charge  ;  and  that  is  all  I  desire." 

"  Having  thus  placed  one  of  their  own  body,  a  gentleman  of  ample 
fortune,  and  great  distinction,  in  a  situation  so  new,  so  replete 
with  difficulties  and  dangers ;  having  called  him  to  be  principal  in 
support  of  a  cause  in  which,  in  case  of  failure,  not  only  his  fortune 
but  his  life,  must  be  the  certain  forfeiture,  those  patriots  did  not 
leave  him  without  the  most  solemn  pledge  of  their  support.  With 
his  commission,  they  presented  him  a  resolution,  declaring  that 
they  would  maintain  him,  and  assist  him,  and  adhere  to  him,  with 
their  lives  and  fortunes,  in  the  same  cause.  With  respect  to  instruc 
tions  for  the  conduct  of  the  commander,  in  the  untried  scenes  before 
them,  Congress  could  do  little  more  than  direct  him,  as  the  Roman 
senate  formerly  did  their  consuls  in  times  of  danger,  to  take  care 
'that  the  republic  should  receive  no  detriment.'  In  their  letter  to 
him  on  this  subject,  they  say:  'And  whereas  all  particulars  cannot 
be  foreseen,  nor  positive  instructions  for  such  emergencies  so  be 
forehand  given,  but  that  many  things  must  be  left  to  your  prudent 
and  discreet  management,  as  occurrences  may  arise  upon  the  place, 
or  from  time  to  time  befall  you,  and  therefore,  upon  all  occasions 
that  may  happen,  to  use  your  best  circumspection,  and  advising 
with  your  council-of-war  to  order  and  dispose  of  the  army  under 
your  command,  as  may  be  most  advantageous  for  attaining  the  end 
for  which  those  forces  have  been  raised ;  making  it  your  special 
care,  in  the  discharge  of  the  great  trust  committed  unto  you,  that 
the  liberties  of  America  receive  no  detriment.'  " 

General  Washington,  with  his  usual  promptness,  immediately 
began  his  preparations  to  proceed  to  the  seat  of  war.  His  private 
opinions  and  reasons  for  accepting  the  command,  as  well  as  the 
tender  affection  which  he  always  felt  for  his  beloved  wife,  are  well 

*  Pitkin,  vol.  i.  334,  335. 


188  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

expressed  in  the  following  letter  to  her,  dated  Philadelphia,  June 
18,  1775. 

"My  DEAREST, — I  am  now  set  down  to  write  to  you  on  a  sub 
ject  which  fills  me  with  inexpressible  concern,  and  this  concern  is 
greatly  aggravated  and  increased,  when  I  reflect  «pon  the  uneasi 
ness  I  know  it  will  give  you.  It  has  been  determined  in  Congress 
that  the  whole  army  raised  for  the  defence  of  the  American  cause 
shall  be  put  under  my  care,  and  that  it  is  necessary  for  me  to  pro 
ceed  immediately  to  Boston  to  take  upon  me  the  command  of  it. 

"You  may  believe  me,  my  dear  Patsy,  -when  I  assure  you,  in  the 
most  solemn  manner,  that,  so  far  from  seeking  this  appointment,  I 
have  used  every  endeavour  in  my  power  to  avoid  it,  not  only  from 
my  unwillingness  to  part  with  you  and  the  family,  but  from  a  con 
sciousness  of  its  being  a  trust  too  great  for  my  capacity,  and  that 
I  should  enjoy  more  real  happiness  in  one  month  with  you  at  home, 
than  I  have  the  most  distant  prospect  of  finding  abroad,  if  my  stay  were 
to  be  seven  times  seven  years.  But  as  it  has  been  a  kind  of  destiny 
that  has  thrown  me  upon  this  service,  I  shall  hope  that  my  under 
taking  it  is  designed  to  answer  some  good  purpose.  You  might, 
and  I  suppose  did  perceive  from  the  tenor  of  my  letters,  that  I  was 
apprehensive  I  could  not  avoid  this  appointment,  as  I  did  not  pre 
tend  to  intimate  when  I  should  return.  That  was  the  case.  It 
was  utterly  out  of  my  power  to  refuse  this  appointment,  without 
exposing  my  character  to  such  censures  as  would  have  reflected 
dishonour  upon  myself,  and  given  pain  to  my  friends.  This,  I  am 
sure,  would  not,  and  ought  not,  to  be  pleasing  to  you,  and  must 
have  lessened  me  considerably  in  my  own  esteem.  I  shall  rely, 
therefore,  confidently,  on  that  Providence,  which  has  heretofore  pre 
served  and  been  bountiful  to  me,  not  doubting  but  that  I  shall 
return  safe  to  you  in  the  fall.  I  shall  feel  no  pain  from  the  toil  or 
the  danger  of  the  campaign  ;  my  unhappiness  will  flow  from  the 
uneasiness  I  know  you  will  feel  from  being  left  alone.  I  therefore 
beg  that  you  will  summon  your  wThole  fortitude,  and  pass  your 
time  as  agreeably  as  possible.  Nothing  will  give  me  so  much  sin 
cere  satisfaction  as  to  hear  this,  and  to  hear  it  from  your  owrn  pen. 
My  earnest  and  ardent  desire  is,  that  you  would  pursue  any  plan 
that  is  most  likely  to  produce  content,  and  a  tolerable  degree  of 
tranquillity ;  as  it  must  add  greatly  to  my  uneasy  feelings  to  hear 
that  you  are  dissatisfied  or  complaining  at  what  I  really  could  not 
avoid. 

"As  life  is  always  uncertain,  and  common  prudence  dictates  to 
every  man  the  necessity  of  settling  his  temporal  concerns,  while  it 


WASHINGTON    JOINS    THE    ARMY.  189 

is  in  his  power,  and  while  the  mind  is  calm  and  undisturbed,  I 
have,  since  I  came  to  this  place,  (for  I  had  not  time  to  do  it  before 
I  left  home,)  got  Colonel  Pendleton  to  draft  a  will  for  me,  by  the 
directions  I  gave  him,  which  will  I  now  enclose ;  the  provision 
made  for  you  in  case  of  my  death  will,  I  hope,  be  agreeable." 

The  Congress  afterwards  chose  Artemas  Ward,  Charles  Lee, 
Philip  Schuyler,  and  Israel  Putnam,  major-generals,  and  Horatio 
Gates,  adjutant-general.  On  the  22d  of  June,  they  appointed  Seth 
Pomeroy,  Richard  Montgomery,  David  Wooster,  William  Heath, 
Joseph  Spencer,  John  Thomas,  John  Sullivan,  and  Nathaniel  Green, 
brigadier-generals. 

HESE  appointments  gave  universal  satisfac 
tion.  General  Washington  used  the  utmost 
expedition  in  preparing  to  start  for  the  seat  of 
war.  Before  he  left  Philadelphia  he  reviewed 
several  independent  companies  of  volunteers, 
amounting  in  all  to  about  two  thousand  men, 
under  arms.  One  of  these  companies,  a  troop 
of  light-horse,  accompanied  him  as  far  as  New 
York.  He  was  also  accompanied  to  that  city 
by  General  Schuyler,  whom  he  left  there  in 
charge  of  the  troops  of  the  province,  and  by  General  Lee,  who  con 
tinued  with  him  to  Cambridge.  He  was  met,  at  Newark,  by  a 
committee  from  the  Provincial  Congress  of  New  York,  and  escorted 
by  them  to  that  metropolis,  where  he  arrived  on  the  25th  of  June. 
An  address  presented  by  the  New  York  Congress  to  Washington, 
on  this  occasion,  was  remarkable  for  its  tone  of  timidity  and  luke- 
warmness,  and  for  the  broad  hint  contained  in  its  concluding  para 
graph  ;  as  well  as  for  the  delicate  and  appropriate  answer  which  it 
drew  from  Washington ;  leading  him,  as  it  did,  to  avow  senti 
ments,  at  this  early  period  of  the  war,  which  were  closely  adhered 
to  throughout  its  whole  progress,  and  in  an  especial  manner  at  its 
close. 

The  address  of  the  New  York  Congress  contained  this  para 
graph  : 

"  Confiding  in  you,  sir,  and  in  the  worthy  generals  immediately 
under  your  command,  we  have  the  most  flattering  hopes  of  success 
in  the  glorious  struggle  for  American  liberty,  and  the  fullest  assur 
ance,  that  whenever  this  important  contest  shall  be  decided  by  that 
fondest  wish  of  each  American  soul,  an  accommodation  with  our 
mother  country,  you  will  cheerfully  resign  the.  important  deposit 


190  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

committed  into  your  hands,  and  re-assume  the  character  of  our 
worthiest  citizen." 

The  following  was  General  Washington's  reply  : 

«  Gentlemen,  at  the  same  time  that  with  you  I  deplore  the  un 
happy  necessity  of  such  an  appointment,  as  thgt  with  which  I  am 
now  honoured,  I  cannot  but  feel  sentiments  of  the  highest  gratitude 
for  this  affecting  instance  of  distinction  and  regard. 

«  May  your  every  wish  be  realized  in  the  success  of  America,  at 
this  important  and  interesting  period  ;  and  be  assured,  that  every 
exertion  of  my  worthy  colleagues  and  myself  will  be  equally  ex 
tended  to  the  re-establishment  of  peace  and  harmony  between  the 
mother  country  and  the  colonies,  as  to  the  fatal,  but  necessary  ope 
rations  of  war.  When  we  assumed  the  soldier,  we  did  not  lay 
aside  the  citizen  ;  and  we  shall  most  sincerely  rejoice  with  you  in 
that  happy  hour,  when  the  establishment  of  American  liberty,  upon 
the  most  firm  and  solid  foundations,  shall  enable  us  to  return  to 
our  private  stations  in  the  bosom  of  a  free,  peaceful,  and  happy 
country." 

On  the  26th  of  June,  General  Washington  departed  from  New 
York,  under  the  escort  of  several  military  companies,  passed  the 
night  at  Kingsbridge,  and  the  next  morning  proceeded  on  his  jour 
ney.  He  arrived  at  Cambridge  on  the  2d  of  July.  During  the 
whole  of  this  journey,  he  met  with  the  most  flattering  attentions 
from  the  people,  as  well  as  the  public  authorities,  of  the  dis 
tricts  through  which  he  passed.  He  was  continually  escorted  by 
companies  of  volunteers  ;  and  at  Springfield,  a  hundred  miles  from 
Boston,  a  committee  of  the  Massachusetts  Assembly  met,  and  ac 
companied  him  to  head-quarters.  On  his  arrival  at  Watertown, 
where  the  Provincial  Congress  of  Massachusetts  was  then  sitting, 
an  address  was  presented  to  him  by  that  body,  pledging  themselves 
to  the  most  cordial  co-operation  with  his  measures.  His  reply  was 
simple  and  dignified. 

«  Gentlemen,"  said  he,  «  your  kind  congratulations  on  my  ap 
pointment  and  arrival,  demand  my  warmest  acknowledgments,  and 
will  ever  be  retained  in  grateful  remembrance.  In  exchanging 
the  enjoyments  of  domestic  life  for  the  duties  of  my  present  honour 
able  but  arduous  station,  I  only  emulate  the  virtue  and  public  spirit 
of  the  whole  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  which,  with  a  firmness 
and  patriotism  without  example  in  modern  history,  has  sacrificed 
all  the  comforts  of  social  and  political  life,  in  support  of  the  rights 
of  mankind,  and  the  welfare  of  our  common  country.  My  highest 
ambition  is  to  be  the  happy  instrument  of  vindicating  those  rights, 


WASHINGTON    JOINS    THE    ARMY. 


191 


and  to  see  this   devoted  province  again  restored  to  peace,  liberty, 
and  safet) ." 

On  arriving  at  the  head  quarters,  at  Cambridge,  he  was  wel 
comed  by  the  troops  with  joyful  acclamations.  He  found  the  army, 
consisting  of  about  sixteen  thousand  men,  so  disposed  as  to  be 
leaguer  the  enemy  within  Boston  ;  but  they  were  much  distressed 
on  account  of  the  necessary  munitions  of  war,  and  the  want  of 
subordination  manifested  by  the  greater  number  of  them  towards 
their  officers.  He,  accordingly,  first  turned  his  attention  to  the 
remedying  of  these  evils,  the  disciplining  of  the  army,  and  the 
closer  investment  of  the  city. 


COST^MK     OF     BRITISH     TROOPS.      1775. 


192 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


rl 


N  the  mean  time,  the  spark  which  had 
been  lighted  at  Lexington,  and  fanned  at 
Concord,  had  been  blown  up  into  a  blaz 
ing  fire  at  Bunker  Hill.  On  the  arrival 
of  reinforcements  from  Europe,  General 
Gage  prepared  for  more  decisive  opera 
tions  than  he  had  thought  it  prudent,  pre 
viously,  to  attempt.  In  the  midst  of  his 
preparations,  he  issued  a  proclamation,  as 
a  last  warning  to  the  people,  before  a  final  appeal  to  arms.  He 
placed  before  them  the  dread  alternative  of  war  or  submission  ;  if 
they  still  persisted  in  their  rebellion,  he  would  commence  a  war 
of  extermination  ;  but  if  they  would  submit,  he  offered  a  free  par 
don  to  all,  for  past  offences  against  the  government,  except  Samuel 
Adams  and  John  Hancock,  whom  he  described  as  «  firebrands," 


BATTLE    OF    BUNKER    HILL.  193 

but  who  were  objects  of  confidence  and  respect  to  the  American 
people.  This  proclamation  only  aroused  the  Americans  to  more 
vigorous  exertions.  Rightly  judging  that  the  proclamation  was 
the  herald  of  immediate  hostility,  and  regarding  it  as  the  last  ag 
gression  on  their  civil  liberties,  for  it  contained  the  promulgation 
of  martial  law,  they  boldly  prepared  for  the  worst. 

A  council  of  war  was  called,  and  the  Provincial  Congress  sug 
gested  to  them  the  great  importance  to  either  army  of  the  posses 
sion  of  Bunker  Hill,  a  commanding  eminence  on  the  north  side  of  the 
peninsula  of  Charlestown,  and  nearly  opposite  to  the  British  camp. 
The  council  immediately  adopted  the  suggestion,  and  on  the  night 
of  the  sixteenth  of  June,  a  detachment  of  one  thousand  men,  under 
the  command  of  Major  Prescot,  was  ordered  to  take  possession  of 
Bunker  Hill,  and  throw  up,  with  the  greatest  expedition,  field 
fortifications  for  the  defence  of  the  position.  By  some  mistake,  the 
detachment  took  up  their  station  on  Breed's  Hill,  another  eminence 
to  the  right,  and  still  nearer  to  the  enemy's  lines.  Here  they  be 
gan  their  field-works,  and  so  silently  and  sedulously  did  they 
labour,  that  at  dawn  of  day  the  British  were  alarmed  to  discover  a 
small  redoubt  constructed  on  the  brow  of  the  hill,  nearly  under 
the  guns  of  their  vessels.  Orders  were  instantly  given  to  the  bat 
teries  and  vessels  to  commence  a  simultaneous  fire  upon  the  works 
and  workmen.  But  this  heavy  cannonade  seemed  only  to  stimu 
late  the  young  soldiers'  activity  and  zeal ;  nor  did  they  pause 
until  they  had  constructed  a  line  of  breastwork  from  the  right  of 
the  redoubt  to  the  bottom  of  the  hill.  Towards  noon,  General 
Gage,  finding  all  his  efforts  to  arrest  these  formidable  preparations 
unavailing,  determined  on  dislodging  the  Americans ;  and  gave 
orders  that  two  squadrons,  under  command  of  Generals  Howe  and 
Pigot,  should  undertake  that  duty.  They  were  landed  at  More- 
ton's,  the  north-east  point  of  Charlestown  peninsula.  To  their  left 
was  the  village  of  that  name,  consisting  of  about  five  hundred 
houses  ;  in  front  of  them  the  American  works;  and  to  their  right, 
the  valley  between  Breed's  and  Bunker  Hills.  Beyond  the  Ameri 
cans,  the  peninsula  gradually  narrowed  till  it  ended  at  Charlestown 
neck,  at  the  left  of  which,  as  you  enter  the  peninsula,  was  stationed 
the  Glasgow  man-of-war  ;  and,  at  the  right,  two  floating  batteries. 
The  Americans  continued  their  works  while  the  British  forces 
formed  on  the  shore.  Slowly  and  steadily  the  latter  proceeded  up 
the  hill,  under  cover  of  their  guns,  which  poured  into  the  American 
intrenchments  a  continuous  and  destructive  fire,  pausing  occasion- 
25  R 


194  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

ally  to  give  their  field-pieces  time  to  play  on  the  newly  constructed 
works.  Meantime,  orders  wrere  given  by  the  British  general  to  set 
Charlestown  on  fire,  lest  it  might  serve  as  a  cover  for  the  provin 
cials.  It  was  built,  for  the  most  part,  of  wood  ;  suddenly  one  wild 
flame  enveloped  the  whole  town,  and,  curling  Mgh  in  air,  shed  its 
unnatural  light  over  the  scene  of  havoc,  adding  to  the  heat  and  suf 
focation  of  the  sultry  summer  day.  The  inhabitants  of  Boston,  the 
unengaged  soldiers,  the  American  army  from  their  camp,  witnessed 
this  terrible  spectacle ;  but  they  soon  lost  all  interest  in  the  burning 
houses  and  temples,  to  watch  the  progress  of  the  advancing  co 
lumns,  while,  amid  the  roar  of  cannon,  and  the  glare  of  the  blazing 
town,  they  moved  up  the  declivity  where  so  many  of  them  were  to 
find  gory  graves.  The  Americans  calmly  and  unmovedly  regarded 
the  steady  onset  of  discipline  and  courage.  Major  Putnam,  a  vete 
ran  soldier  of  the  colonies,  charged  his  untrained  warriors  to  with 
hold  their  fire  until  they  could  distinguish  "  the  whites  of  their 
assailants'  eyes,"  and  then  to  fire  low.  Well  was  that  order 
obeyed  ; — their  first  fire  was  so  deadly  that  the  advancing  troops 
reeled  under  the  shock,  wavered,  and  suddenly  fled.  They  were 
again  rallied  by  the  courage  of  their  officers,  and  again  advanced 
to  the  charge ;  but  again  the  same  unerring  stream  of  fire  continued 
to  pour  in  upon  them  from  the  redoubt  and  breastwork,  until,  a 
second  time,  their  lines  broke,  and  they  fled  precipitately.  General 
Clinton  seeing  this  disaster  from  the  camp,  and  burning  with  shame 
at  the  defeat  of  the  British  arms,  volunteered  to  lead  a  fresh  detach 
ment  to  their  aid.  His  presence  once  more  inspired  the  British 
officers,  and,  by  wonderful  exertions,  amounting,  in  some  cases, 
to  goading  the  men,  they  prevailed  upon  them  again  to  face  those 
terrible  and  immovable  lines.  This  third  attack  was  even  more 
cautious  than  the  others,  and  the  artillery  had  raked  the  entire 
length  of  the  breastwork  before  the  troops  reached  it.  By  this 
time,  the  ammunition  of  its  defenders  was  nearly  exhausted ;  but 
they  reserved  their  last  fire  until  the  enemy  was  at  the  works. 
This  fire  was  true  and  telling  as  the  former,  but  it  had  not  the  same 
effect,  for  the  British  soldiers,  charging  fiercely,  attacked  the  re 
doubt  on  three  sides,  and  carried  it  by  storm ;  the  Americans,  who 
had  been  ordered  to  retire  when  their  powder  was  spent,  continuing 
to  defend  it,  and  dealing  death  around  them  with  the  butt  end  of 
their  muskets,  until  the  redoubt  was  filled  with  the  enemy.  While 
the  ground  at  the  redoubt  and  intrenchments  was  thus  contested 
and  won,  a  detachment  of  the  British  right,  ordered  to  turn  the 


BATTLE    OF    BUNKER    HILL.  195 

left  flank  of  the  Americans,  was  received  by  the  defenders  of  that 
pass,  where  they  sheltered  themselves  with  hay,  and  the  rails  of  a 
fence,  hastily  thrown  together  during  the  early  part  of  the  conflict, 
with  equal  coolness,  firmness,  and  precision  of  fire.  There,  too, 
the  British  troops  staggered  beneath  the  well-directed  aim  of  the 
provincials,  who  retired  only  from  their  post  of  danger  when  they 
saw  the  works  on  the  hill  abandoned  by  the  main  body.  Then 
they  joined  the  retreat,  and  the  British  remained  masters  of  the 
field  of  battle.  But  though  the  victory  was  theirs,  the  retreat  of 
their  enemy  was  unmolested,  and  they  were  allowed  time  to  form, 
for  crossing  at  their  own  convenience  the  terrible  passage  of  the 
Neck,  exposed  to  the  double  fire  of  the  batteries  and  the  Glasgow 
man-of-war.  The  British  halted  on  Bunker  Hill,  where  they  has 
tily  threw  up  defences  ;  and  the  Americans  took  their  position  im 
mediately  opposite  them,  on  Prospect  Hill,  and  began  that  line  of 
fortifications  which  was  never  more  approached  by  the  attacking 
army. 

The  British  encamped  that  evening  about  a  mile  in  advance  of 
their  position  in  the  morning ;  but  dearly  did  they  pay  for  the  ad 
vantage.  Nineteen  of  their  bravest  officers,  and  two  hundred  and 
twenty-six  men  lay  dead  in  the  disputed  way,  while  eight  hundred 
and  twenty-eight  of  the  remainder  were  wounded.  Of  the  Ameri 
cans,  two  hundred  and  seventy-eight  were  wounded,  thirty-six 
missing,  and  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine  slain.  Among  the  latter 
was  Doctor  Warren,  a  man  whom  his  country  deeply  loved,  and 
long  mourned.  He  commanded  that  day  for  the  first  time,  with 
the  rank  of  major-general,  a  rank  which  he  only  held  four  days, 
and  which  was  conferred  on  him  for  the  purity  of  his  patriotism, 
and  his  eminent  abilities. 

The  disproportion  of  killed  and  wounded  will  appear  still  more 
strange,  on  a  comparison  of  the  numbers  actually  engaged.  Al 
most  all  accounts  agree  in  stating  these  numbers  thus : — British, 
three  thousand  ;  Americans,  one  thousand  five  hundred. 

Although  the  ground  was  lost,  the  Americans  claimed  the  vic 
tory.  Their  confidence  in  themselves  was  greatly  increased,  and 
it  was  universally  asked,  "  How  many  more  such  triumphs  the 
British  army  could  afford  ?"  This  battle  was,  in  fact,  one  of  the 
most  bloody  and  destructive  which  we  find  recorded  in  the  an 
nals  of  war. 


196 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


0! 


FTER  the  capture  of  Ticonderoga  and 
Crown  Point  by  Colonels  Allen  and 
Arnold,  the  former  returned  home, 
leaving  Arnold  in  garrison  at  Ticon 
deroga.  His  impetuous  spirit,  how 
ever,  ill  brooked  inactivity,  and  early 
in  June  he  proposed  the  bolder  design 
of  invading  the  Canadas,  which  he  pro 
mised  to  reduce  with  four  thousand 
men.  To  this  proposal  Congress  re 
fused  then  to  accede.  But  the  governor  of  Canada,  Sir  Guy  Carle- 
ton,  engaging  in  active  preparations  for  retaking  the  forts,  and 
the  military  spirit  of  the  colonies  rising  with  each  successive 
event,  the  invasion  of  Canada  was,  two  months  afterward,  voted  to 
be  practicable,  just,  and  necessary. 

Its  practicability  was  based  upon  the  courage  and  success  of 
the  provincials  ;  its  justice,  on  the  preparations  of  Sir  Guy  Carle- 
ton,  which,  in  the  eyes  of  Congress,  amounted  to  indications  ot 


INVASION    OF    CANADA.  197 

aggressive  war,  and  invasion  ;  and  its  necessity,  on  the  overruling 
law  of  self-preservation. 

The  responsibility  of  the  northern  expedition  devolved  on  Gene 
ral  Montgomery,  who  with  a  thousand  men  effected  a  landing  at 
St.  John's,  to  which  he  laid  siege.  His  want  of  ammunition  for 
bade  the  hope  of  speedy  success,  but  succeeding  in  an  attack  on 
a  small  fort,  called  Chamble,  about  six  miles  off,  he  obtained  six 
tons  of  gunpowder,  which  enabled  him  to  prosecute  the  siege  with 
vigor.  The  garrison  maintained  themselves  with  great  bravery ; 
but  learning  that  the  governor,  who  was  marching  to  their  aid 
from  Montreal,  with  eight  hundred  men,  was  attacked  and  routed 
by  Colonel  Allen,  the  victor  of  Crown  Point,  they  surrendered  on 
terms  of  honourable  capitulation.  Montgomery  here  obtained 
thirty-nine  pieces  of  cannon,  nine  mortars,  two  howitzers,  and 
eight  hundred  stand  of  arms.  During  the  siege  of  St.  John's, 
Colonel  Allen  was  taken  prisoner,  on  an  expedition  planned  by  his 
general,  and  sent  to  England,  loaded  with  irons.  Montgomery 
hastened  from  St.  John's  to  Montreal,  which  was  evacuated,  on  his 
approach,  by  the  few  troops  stationed  there,  who,  with  General 
Prescott,  the  governor  of  St.  John's,  attempted  to  escape  down  the 
river,  but  were  captured  by  some  troops  and  an  armed  gondola, 
at  the  junction  of  the  Sorel.  One  hundred  and  twenty  prisoners 
here  surrendered  themselves  on  terms  of  capitulation.  Montgo 
mery,  scarcely  delaying  to  count  the  immense  advantages,  in  food, 
clothing,  and  necessaries  of  all  kinds,  placed  in  his  hands  by  the 
evacuation  of  this  rich  commercial  town,  pushed  rapidly  on,  and 
with  his  small,  but  victorious  army,  set  down  before  the  capital  of 
the  province.  And  here,  for  the  first  time,  the  full  extent  of  his 
difficulties  and  perils  arose  upon  his  hopes,  and  checked  them. 
He  was  a  soldier  by  profession,  accustomed  to  strict  obedience. 
His  troops  were,  for  the  most  part,  the  champions  of  liberty,  who 
carried  into  armed  service  the  spirit  which  animated  them  to  un 
dertake  their  country's  defence.  To  them  the  charm  of  that  ser 
vice  was,  that  honour  and  courage  were  its  only  obligations  ;  nor 
would  they  brook  the  idea,  that,  undertaken  on  those  terms,  it 
should  be  prolonged  by  other  authority  than  their  own  will.  Many 
a  time  of  danger,  as  well  as  this,  saw  the  cause  for  which  the  colo 
nists  took  up  arms,  reduced  to  the  verge  of  ruin  by  a  similar  spirit ; 
nor  was  it  until  after  many  perilous  escapes  from  a  final  overthrow, 
that  sanguine  men,  in  Congress  and  out  of  it,  admitted  the  stern 
necessity  of  maintaining  a  regular  army  for  the  defence  of  the 
country.  Some,  who  were  engaged  for  no  term,  and  some  whose 


198  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

term  had  nearly  expired,  when  unsustained  by  military  movements, 
and  exposed  to  unaccustomed  severity  of  weather,  united  in  claim 
ing  their  dismissal  from  the  service  ;  and  the  situation  of  their 
general  was  rendered  precarious  and  most  difficult ;  but  the  genius 
of  Montgomery  prevailed  over  greater  obstacles*  During  his  brief 
but  bright  career,  he  endeavoured  to  maintain  himself  without 
once  sinking  the  humanity  and  honour  of  the  man,  in  the  sternness 
of  the  hard-set  commander.  And  a  daring  ally  hastening  to  his 
relief  by  a  route  hitherto  unattempted  by  the  steps  of  civilized 
man,  was  now  approaching  the  colony,  from  a  quarter,  in  whose 
depths  the  inhabitants  thought  that  not  even  the  savages  shared  the 
solitude  of  the  bear  and  the  wolf. 

About  the  time  of  Montgomery's  invasion,  Arnold,  at  the  head  of 
one  thousand  men,  left  the  camp  at  Cambridge,  by  the  order  of 
General  Washington,  with  the  design  of  penetrating  Canada  by  the 
streams  of  the  Kennebec  and  Chaudiere,  and  through  the  inter 
vening  wilderness.  In  the  ascent  of  the  former,  they  had  often  to 
land  and  haul  their  boats  up  rocks  down  which  roared  the  precipi 
tous  river.  And  when  this  weary  task  was  done,  they  but  ex 
changed  the  labours  of  the  waters  for  greater  labours  on  the  land. 
They  had  to  carve  their  slow  way  through  forests  at  the  rate  of  five 
miles  a  day,  to  cross  deep  swamps,  and  creep  over  rough  crags, 
which  it  seemed  that  neither  man  nor  beast  ever  before  clambered. 
Their  numbers  were  daily  thinned  by  sickness  and  hunger,  many 
of  them  consuming  their  dogs,  shoes,  leathern  breeches,  and  car 
touches.  When  yet  one  hundred  miles  from  a  human  habitation, 
they  divided  their  last  remaining  stores,  which  amounted  to  four 
pints  of  meal  to  each  man.  With  thirty  miles  of  yet  untrodden 
pathway  to  march  over,  they  had  eaten  their  last  morsel.  But  in 
this  trying  journey,  they  were  sustained  by  the  hope  of  completing 
an  enterprise  unrivalled,  save  by  the  most  dazzling  achievements 
of  the  heroes  of  antiquity.  After  a  march  of  nearly  two  months  of 
unexampled  hardships  and  difficulty,  the  Hannibal  of  the  New 
World  reached  the  first  inhabited  settlement  on  the  borders  of  the 
Chaudiere,  which  emptied  itself  into  the  St.  Lawrence,  a  few  miles 
above  Quebec.  Here  his  delay  was  shorter  than  required  by  the 
broken  spirits  and  worn-out  energies  of  his  feeble  but  unshrinking 
band.  With  the  rapidity  of  ambition  did  he  speed,  leaving  the 
inhabitants  to  conjecture  whether  he  had  issued  from  the  wilderness 
or  descended  from  the  clouds.  His  welcome  and  reception  were 
in  proportion  to  their  wonder  and  awe  ;  and  he  circulated  among 
them  the  proclamations  of  the  commander-in-chief,  offering  liberty, 


ARNOLD'S    MARCH.  199 

security,  and  peace,  should  they  aid  the  common  object  of  the 
united  colonies.  But  Arnold  relied  on  sterner  agencies  than  these, 
and  his  sudden  appearance  near  Quebec  caused  as  much  conster 
nation  in  the  garrison  as  if  his  had  been  an  army  of  demons,  so 
little  could  they  calculate  upon  the  approach  from  that  quarter  of 
such  a  foe.  Arnold  found  the  town,  as  he  had  anticipated,  com 
pletely  deserted,  the  governor  being  absent,  endeavouring  to  turn 
the  storm  of  war,  raging  upon  another  side  of  the  province.  The 
mighty  river  rolled  between  him  and  his  certain  prey,  and  vessels 
of  war,  moored  in  the  stream,  checked  his  first  bold  and  prompt 
design  of  crossing  the  river,  and  entering  at  once  the  undefended 
gates  of  Quebec.  But  the  passage  would  have  been  attempted  in 
the  night,  were  it  not  for  a  storm  which  raged  for  several  days  and 
nights,  sweeping  with  angry,  but  protecting  surge,  between  the 
panting  Arnold  and  the  unguarded  town.  While  he  was  thus 
delayed,  the  panic  in  the  garrison  abated,  and  Colonel  McLean, 
with  his  Scotch  volunteers,  threw  himself  into  it  to  protect  its  fate, 
or  share  its  fall.  Arnold,  chafing  at  further  delay,  moved  his  force 
down  the  river  to  Wolfe's  Cove,  and  resolved  to  imitate  the  daring, 
and  share  the  glory  of  the  hero  of  that  name.  At  dead  of  night  his 
intrepid  band  crossed  the  flood  and  ascended  the  precipitous  banks 
at  the  other  side.  Here  a  council-of-war  was  held,  in  which  Arnold 
proposed  to  storm  the  town ;  but  this  counsel  was  overruled  as 
desperate  ;  and,  after  a  short  delay  before  the  walls,  he  was  obliged 
to  retire  to  a  position  of  greater  safety,  twenty  miles  up  the  river, 
there  to  await  a  junction  with  Montgomery. 

Meantime  the  governor  of  Canada  arrived  in  Quebec,  and  took 
the  promptest  and  most  decisive  measures  for  its  defence  ;  so  that 
by  the  time  the  junction  of  the  two  American  generals  was  effected, 
it  was  fully  prepared  to  resist  their  joint  assault.  Ere  Arnold  reluct 
antly  abandoned  the  storming  of  Quebec,  or  retired  from  its  walls, 
he  was  forced  to  admit  to  himself,  that,  all  his  toil,  his  waste  of 
time  and  treasure,  and  the  stupendous  undertaking  he  had  accom 
plished,  had  been  in  vain.  He  sighed  to  think,  that  the  storm 
which  averted  from  the  city  his  long  collected  blow,  or  being  a  day 
or  two  behind  the  propitious  time,  should  interpose  between  him 
and  his  crowning  fame,  and  give  to  Quebec  and  Canada  a  different 
destiny.  But  thus  does  fortune  play  with  the  prospects  of  the 
wisest  and  the  boldest.  The  spirit  of  Arnold  was  not,  however,  to 
be  depressed  by  this  mischance.  He  warmly  seconded  Montgo 
mery's  prompt  resolution  of  investing  Quebec  ;  a  resolution  at  once 
executed.  But  Quebec  \vas  defended  by  superior  resources  and  a 


200  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

valor  equal  to  their  own.  Sir  Guy  Carleton  was  a  man  of  great 
daring  and  the  sagest  prudence.  By  his  presence  and  virtue  he 
infused  his  own  indomitable  spirit  into  the  bosoms  of  all  the  inha 
bitants  ;  and  every  day  the  siege  was  continued  gave  fresh  proofs 
of  the  strength  and  security  of  his  position.  Th£  besiegers,  fearing 
delay,  and  sorely  urged  by  the  season,  the  climate,  and  the  uncer 
tainty  of  the  service  subordinate  to  their  authority,  resolved  to 
risk  the  storming  of  the  garrison  at  every  hazard.  That  attempt 
was  made  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  on  the  last  day  of  the 
year,  their  forces  being  divided  into  four  parties,  the  two  principal 
of  which  were  led  in  person  by  Montgomery  and  Arnold.  A  heavy 
snow-storm  enveloped  besiegers  and  besieged,  amid  the  fury  of 
which  the  devoted  bands  and  their  gallant  leaders  groped  their 
way  to  the  destined  points  of  attack.  These  were,  for  the  two  main 
divisions,  the  two  opposite  sides  of  the  lower  town — Montgomery 
choosing  that  around  Cape  Diamond,  by  the  banks  of  the  river, 
which  was  guarded  by  an  outpost.  The  pathway  leading  to  this 
post  was  narrow  and  difficult,  being  under  the  steep  precipices, 
and  covered  by  large  masses  of  ice,  washed  in  upon  it  by  the 
overgorged  river.  Along  this  the  storming  party  advanced  with 
extreme  difficulty  in  single  file,  and  the  general  himself  leading  the 
way,  had  more  than  once  to  halt  for  those  that  followed.  Reaching 
the  outpost,  its  guards,  after  a  few  random  shots,  fled  to  the  battery ; 
but  being  in  advance  of  his  men,  the  general  again  halted  to  give 
time  to  his  followers  to  collect,  and  as  soon  as  about  two  hundred 
were  collected,  he  rushed  forward,  animating  them  by  his  voice  and 
example,  when  one  of  the  sentinels  who  had  fled,  astonished  at 
the  delay,  returned  to  his  post,  and  slowly  applying  a  match  to  a 
gun  mounted  there,  fired  it  without  any  immediate  design.  This 
single  and  chance  shot  decided  the  fate  of  the  assault ;  its  first  victim 
was  General  Montgomery.  He  fell  dead  where  he  stood ;  and  two 
young  and  gallant  officers  who  shared  his  peril  and  daring,  shared 
also  his  untimely  fate.  Colonel  Campbell,  on  whom  devolved  the 
command,  hesitated  to  advance ;  and  the  troops,  whom  no  danger 
could  deter,  when  following  their  beloved  general,  seeing  him  lying 
dead,  retraced  their  steps  with  confusion  and  consternation. 
Arnold,  to  whom  this  disaster  was  unknown,  approached  the 
opposite  battery,  along  the  suburb  of  St.  Rogers,  about  the  same 
time.  He,  too,  found  all  in  readiness  to  meet  him,  and  in 
assaulting  the  first  battery,  received  a  wound  and  retired  to  have 
it  dressed.  The  battery  was,  however,  taken,  and  Captain  Morgan, 
of  the  Virginia  riflemen,  who  were  leading  the  assault,  was  called 


ASSAULT    UPON    QUEBEC.  201 

on  by  a  unanimous  shout  to  assume  the  command  and  rush  forward. 
That  dauntless  officer  accepted  with  eagerness  the  post  of  danger 
and  of  honour  ;  at  the  same  moment,  Lieutenant  Anderson,  issuing 
from  the  gate,  with  the  view  of  attacking  the  Americans,  who  were 
supposed  to  be  plundering  the  exposed  part  of  the  town,  challenged 
Captain  Morgan,  and  received  a  ball  through  his  head  from  Morgan's 
hand  in  reply.  His  troops  fell  back  and  closed  the  gate.  The 
besiegers  instantly  scaling  the  wall,  saw  inside  a  large  force,  with 
their  guns  fixed  to  the  earth,  ready  to  receive  any  who  descended 
on  their  bayonets,  and  at  the  same  time  a  most  destructive  fire 
was  poured  upon  them  from  windows  and  port-holes,  beneath 
which  they  retired  into  the  stone  houses  outside  the  barrier,  where 
the  dawning  day  discovered  them  endeavouring  to  answer,  but 
ineffectually,  the  terrible  fire  from  the  barrier  and  surrounding 
posts.  To  appear  even  an  instant  outside  their  precarious  shelter 
was  certain  death  ;  and  so  depressed  were  the  men  by  defeat,  dis 
aster,  and  cold,  that  they  refused  to  attempt  a  retreat  in  the  face  of 
the  murderous  barrier.  Meantime,  troops  issuing  from  another 
gate  made  their  rear-guard  prisoners,  and  completely  surrounded 
them.  But,  even  in  this  situation,  the  resolution  which  still  upheld 
the  American  leaders,  prompted  the  desperate  attempt  of  cutting 
their  way,  sword  in  hand,  through  the  town  backwards.  While 
preparing,  however,  for  this  last  enterprise,  they  were  entirely 
encompassed,  and  surrendered  prisoners  of  war.  Many  officers 
of  this  detachment  were  killed,  and  all  the  rest,  including  the 
intrepid  Morgan,  except  a  few  who  accompanied  Arnold,  were 
taken  prisoners.  Thus  ended  this  assault  upon  Quebec,  which 
many  have  described  as  rash  and  desperate,  but  which  all  admit 
to  be  one  of  the  most  gallant  upon  record.  Its  failure  supplies  the 
readiest  proof  that  it  was  ill-advised  and  unmilitary  ;  but  if,  as  it 
is  on  the  other  hand  averred,  the  shot  which  deprived  the  army  of 
its  general  was  a  random  one,  discharged  by  a  trembling  hand  at 
a  forsaken  post,  success  might  have  changed '  the  reasoning,  and 
generated  a  host  of  critics,  stout  to  assert  that  the  enterprise  was 
as  wisely  and  surely  planned  as  it  was  daring  and  chivalrous. 

Upon  Arnold's  camp,  the  newr  year  opened  with  gloomy  pros 
pects  ;  yet,  himself  badly  wounded,  the  army  dispirited  by  defeat 
and  suffering,  his  bravest  chiefs  dead  or  captured,  and  the  winter 
closing  around  him  with  its  frozen  terrors,  he  did  not  hesitate  to 
prosecute  boldly  the  blockade.  And  the  distress  to  which  he  re 
duced  the  garrison,  which  once  or  twice  barely  escaped  foiling 
into  his  hands,  ere  he  was  superseded  in  command,  proves  that  his 
26 


202  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

energy  was  indomitable,  and  his  operations  those  of  a  consummate 
military  genius. 

But  in  all  that  surrounded  it  of  gloom  and  horror,  in  this  season 
of  snow  and  storms,  nothing  pressed  so  heavily  on  the  American 
army  as  the  fate  of  their  too  gallant  general.  No  thought  had  they 
for  calculating  harshness  in  judging  the  enterprise  which  cost  his 
life.  And  indeed,  if  want  of  foresight,  to  any  extent,  dimmed  the 
lustre  of  that  stupendous  undertaking,  it  was  amply  redeemed  by 
his  personal  contempt  for  danger,  and  his  chivalrous  fall.  Nor 
does  it  well  become  the  nation  on  whose  arms  victory  smiled,  to 
insult  his  memory  on  this  ground ;  for,  had  he  lived  to  divide 
their  strength,  or  share  in  the  encounter,  history  may  be  compelled 
to  restrict  the  praises  which  British  valour  justly  claims  from  the 
triumph  of  that  eventful  day.  Nor  was  the  voice  of  unkind  criti 
cism  much  heeded  by  the  generous  ear.  No  man  fell  in,  or  per 
haps  survived  the  wrar,  save  one,  to  whose  virtue  and  courage  so 
large  and  liberal  a  tribute  of  homage  was  offered,  of  hearty  admi 
ration  by  his  enemies,  of  deepest  mourning  by  his  adopted  country. 
His  monument,  the  first  voted  by  Congress,  attests  the  estimation 
in  which  they  held  his  eminent  services,  his  purity,  and  his  genius. 
But,  perhaps,  the  most  solid  testimony  to  his  worth  and  valour 
was,  the  cheer  which  echoed  through  the  British  senate  when  the 
baffled  minister  «  cursed  his  virtues  for  having  undone  his  coun 
try." 

Let  us  not  pass  to  other  subjects  without  doing  justice  to  the 
humanity  and  clemency  of  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  and  the  garrison  of 
Quebec.  The  prisoners  who  fell  into  their  hands,  and  the  wounded 
who  were  left  to  their  mercy,  were  treated  with  the  kindest  solici 
tude,  and  most  delicate  respect.  Whether  in  the  hour  of  danger 
or  of  triumph,  the  garrison  never  lost  sight  of  the  honourable  duties 
which  brave  men  ever  discharge  towards  those  whom  the  chances 
of  war  deliver  into  their  power. 

The  fate  of  the  northern  army  claimed  the  early  and  anxious 
care  of  the  commander-in-chief,  and  of  Congress.  The  largest 
supplies  that  could  be  afforded  were  generously  voted  to  its  com 
mand.  Nor  was  the  hope  abandoned,  even  yet,  of  arousing  in  the 
breasts  of  Canadians  the  love  of  liberty,  and  a  community  of  pur 
pose  with  the  other  states.  Franklin,  then  the  literary  star  of  the 
continent,  arrived  on  this  mission  with  two  able  coadjutors,  having 
means  and  authority  to  establish  a  free  press.  But  the  task  of 
thoroughly  conciliating  a  province  with  different  habits,  tastes,  and 
religion,  and  a  priesthood  averse  to  the  union,  was  then  hopeless ; 


REFLECTIONS    ON    THE    CAMPAIGN.  203 

or  the  spirit  that  could  accomplish  it  was  hushed  for  ever.  For 
tune's  current  was  turned  backwards.  The  army,  though  greatly 
reinforced,  was  unable  to  maintain  itself  against  the  still  more 
numerous  army  now  hotly  pressing  it,  and  commanded  by  the 
accomplished  soldier  who  saved  Quebec.  Advantages  of  a  trifling 
character  were  occasionally  gained  by  the  continental  troops ;  but 
a  series  of  reverses,  thickening  upon  their  scattered  forces,  and 
increasing  their  difficulties  at  every  step,  with  a  victorious  army 
hovering  in  their  rear,  compelled  them,  early  in  the  summer,  to 
evacuate  the  province,  and  abandon  an  expedition  from  which  so 
much  was  hoped,  and  wThich,  at  one  time,  was  justly  regarded  as 
nearly  crowned  with  success. 


3ENKRAL     MONTGOMERY. 


204 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 


of 


HEN  General  Washington  arrived  at  Cam 
bridge,  on  the  2d  of  July,  he  found  a  mixed 
multitude  of  people  there,  under  very  little 
discipline,  order,  or  government;  the  enemy 
in  possession  of  Bunker  Hill,  on  Charles- 
town  Neck,  strongly  intrenched,  and  forti 
fying  themselves.  He  found  part  of  the 
Continental  Army  on  Winter  and  Prospect 
Hills,  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  from  the 
enemy  on  Bunker  Hill,  in  a  very  insecure 
state  ;  another  part  at  the  village  of  Cam 
bridge,  which  he  made  his  head-quarters;  and  a  third  part  at  Rox- 
bury,  guarding  the  passage  in  and  out  of  Boston.  He  immediately 
began  to  throw  up  lines  of  defence  at  these  places,  for  the  double 
purpose  of  securing  his  troops  from  any  attempts  of  the  enemy,  and 


STATE    OF    THE    AMERICAN    ARMY.  205 

cutting  off  all  communication  between  the  latter  and  the  surround 
ing  country.  The  enemy's  strength,  including  marine  forces,  was 
estimated  at  about  twelve  thousand  ;  that  of  the  Americans,  present 
and  fit  for  duty,  thirteen  thousand  seven  hundred,  or  including  the 
sick  and  absent  on  leave,  sixteen  thousand  seven  hundred.  With 
this  number,  Washington  had  to  guard  a  semicircle  of  eight  or 
nine  miles,  to  every  part  of  which  he  found  it  necessary  to  be 
equally  attentive  ;  whilst  the  enemy,  situated  as  it  were  in  the 
centre  of  the  semicircle,  and  having  the  entire  command  of  the 
water,  could  bend  their  whole  force  against  any  one  part  with  equal 
facility.  Several  circumstances,  however,  concurred  to  render  the 
American  forces  very  inadequate  to  active  operations.  Many  of 
the  soldiers  were  ill-provided  with  arms,  particularly  with  bayonets  ; 
and  the  general  soon  became  acquainted  with  the  alarming  fact, 
that  the  quantity  of  powder  in  the  camp  would  only  supply  nine 
rounds  to  each  man.  Much  distress  was  also  occasioned  by  the 
want  of  tents  and  clothing.  The  urgency  and  continuance  of  these 
wants  were  increased  by  causes  which  General  Washington  thus 
stated  in  a  letter  to  Congress  :  « I  should  be  extremely  deficient  in 
gratitude  as  well  as  justice,  if  I  did  not  take  the  first  opportunity 
to  acknowledge  the  readiness  and  attention  which  the  Congress 
and  different  committees  have  shown  to  make  every  thing  as  con 
venient  and  agreeable  as  possible  ;  but  there  is  a  vital  and  inherent 
principle  of  delay  incompatible  with  military  service  in  transacting 
business  through  such  various  and  different  channels.  I  esteem  it 
my  duty,  therefore,  to  represent  the  inconvenience  that  must  una 
voidably  ensue  from  a  dependence  on  a  number  of  persons  for  sup 
plies,  and  submit  it  to  the  consideration  of  Congress  whether  the 
public  service  will  not  be  best  promoted  by  appointing  a  commis 
sary-general  for  that  purpose." 

The  fact  that  no  such  officer  had  been  appointed,  and  that  the 
army  wanted  a  paymaster  and  a  quarter-master-general,  will  give 
some  idea  of  the  labours  and  difficulties  to  which  the  general  was 
subjected.  The  want  of  arms  and  ammunition  was  one  which  it 
was  extremely  difficult  to  supply.  A  successful  voyage  was,  how 
ever,  made  to  the  coast  of  Africa,  where  every  pound  of  gunpowder 
for  sale  in  the  British  factories  was  purchased,  and  a  magazine  was 
seized  in  the  island  of  Bermudas. 

The  absolute  importance  of  a  maritime  force  now  began  to  be 
extensively  felt  throughout  the  country,  and  this  sentiment  was 
daily  increased  by  the  aggressions  of  British  ships  of  war,  whose 
commanders  had  received  orders  from  the  king  to  proceed  against 

S 


206  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

any  sea-port  towns  where  troops  might  be  raised,  or  military  works 
erected.  Under  these  directions,  a  small  naval  force  arrived  be 
fore  Falmouth,  in  Maine,  commanded  by  Captain  Mo  watt,  who,  on 
his  arrival,  gave  notice  that  he  was  directed  to  burn  every  sea-port 
town  between  Boston  and  Halifax,*  and  demanded  of  the  inhabit 
ants  all  their  arms  and  ammunition,  and  four  of  their  citizens  as 
hostages.  This  order  being  of  course  refused,  a  furious  cannonade 
and  bombardment  was  commenced,  by  which  the  whole  town  was 
speedily  reduced  to  ashes.  This  brutal  measure  may  be  said  to 
have  originated  the  American  navy.  Ships  of  war  were  imme 
diately  fitted  out,  and,  at  the  urgent  suggestion  of  General  Wash 
ington,  courts  were  established  to  take  cognisance  of  prizes,  whose 
proceedings  were  conducted  on  the  soundest  principles  of  interna 
tional  law.f 

In  September,  1775,  a  committee  of  Congress  was  appointed, 
who  repaired  to  head-quarters  for  the  purpose  of  consulting  with 
the  commander-in-chief  «  on  the  most  effectual  method  of  continu 
ing,  supporting,  and  regulating  the  army."  On  their  return,  it 
was  determined  by  Congress,  that  the  new  army,  intended  to  lie 
before  Boston,  should  consist  of  twenty  thousand  three  hundred 
and  seventy-two  men,  whose  officers  were  to  be  raised  chiefly  from 
ihe  troops  already  stationed  there.  There  was  one  result  of  the 
report  of  this  committee,  and  the  deliberations  of  the  Congress 
upon  it,  which,  for  years,  entailed  the  most  pernicious  and  embar 
rassing  effects,  and  which  was  nearly  fatal  to  the  cause  of  Ameri 
can  independence. 

The  members  of  this  body  had  suddenly  sprung  into  political 
importance.  Their  practical  knowledge  of  the  means  of  conduct 
ing  a  war  was,  in  general,  as  scanty  as  their  notions  of  political 
justice,  and  their  spirit  of  freedom  and  patriotism  were  exemplary. 
Their  caution,  as  was  natural,  increased  with  the  peril  of  their 
cause,  until,  in  this  particular  instance,  it  realized  the  proverbial 
effect  of  fear,  by  creating  a  danger  almost  as  serious  as  any  which 
it  strove  to  avoid.  The  example  of  a  Cromwell,  afforded  by  the 
annals  of  their  ancestors,  and  of  a  host  of  military  despots,  sup 
plied  by  universal  history,  inspired  in  their  minds  a  fear,  lest,  hav 
ing  thrown  off  the  restraints  of  the  parent  government,  their  liber 
ties  should  fall  a  prey  to  the  ambition  of  a  military  faction,  whose 
power  would  unquestionably  exceed  that  of  any  other  portion  of 
the  community.  After  the  ample  opportunities  they  had  had  of 

*  No  orders  were  issued  by  the  British  ministry  for  the  destruction  of  these  towns, 
j-  See  Washington's  Writings,  vol.  iii.  155. 


ENLISTMENT    FOR    A    YEAR.  207 

acquainting  themselves  with  the  character  of  Washington,  it  is 
next  to  impossible  that  these  fears  should  have  had  reference  to 
him ;  certain  it  is,  however,  that  they  extensively  prevailed,  and 
dictated  the  measure  which  perpetually  thinned  the  numbers,  and 
relaxed  the  discipline  of  their  army.  This  great  error  consisted 
in  enlisting  soldiers — not  for  the  duration  of  the  war,  but — for  the 
term  of  one  year  only.  Its  lamentable  consequences  will  be  seen 
hereafter. 

As  soon  as  the  measure  was  determined  on,  the  general  issued 
his  orders,  that  all  officers  who  intended  to  decline  the  further  ser 
vice  of  their  country  at  the  expiration  of  the  term  for  which  they 
were  engaged,  should  signify  their  intentions,  in  writing,  to  their 
respective  colonels ;  and  » those  brave  men  and  true  patriots  who 
resolved  to  continue  to  serve  and  defend  their  brethren,  privileges, 
and  property,"  were  also  requested  to  signify  their  intentions  in 
the  same  manner. 

But  the  comparative  inactivity  of  the  army,  as  it  lay  before  Bos 
ton,  engaged  in  strengthening  its  position,  with  now  and  then  an 
inconsiderable  skirmish,  allowed  time  for  that  ardor  to  cool,  which 
had  been  so  gloriously  evinced  at  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill. 
Many  were  unwilling  to  continue  in  the  service  after  the  brief  term 
of  their  first  enlistment.  Some  consented  under  inadmissible  con 
ditions  ;  while  some  suspended  their  decision. 

The  general,  therefore,  repeated  his  orders  for  an  explicit  and 
unconditional  declaration.  «  The  times,"  said  he,  «  and  the  im 
portance  of  the  great  cause  we  are  engaged  in,  allow  no  time  for 
hesitation  and  delay.  When  life,  liberty,  and  property  are  at  stake ; 
when  our  country  is  in  danger  of  being  a  melancholy  scene  of  blood 
shed  and  desolation ;  when  our  towns  are  laid  in  ashes,  and  inno 
cent  women  and  children  driven  from  their  peaceful  habitations, 
exposed  to  the  rigor  of  an  inclement  season,  to  depend,  perhaps, 
on  the  hand  of  charity  for  support ; — when  calamities  like  these 
are  staring  us  in  the  face,  and  a  brutal,  savage  enemy  (more  so 
than  ever  was  found  in  a  civilized  nation)  are  threatening  us,  and 
every  thing  W7e  hold  dear,  with  destruction  from  foreign  troops,  it 
little  becomes  the  character  of  a  soldier  to  shrink  from  danger,  and 
condition  for  new  terms.  It  is  the  general's  intention  to  indulge 
both  officers  and  soldiers  who  compose  the  new  army,  with  fur 
loughs,  for  a  reasonable  time  ;  but  this  must  be  done  in  such  a 
manner  as  not  to  injure  the  service,  or  weaken  the  army  too  much 
at  once." 

In  this  state  of  things,  several  officers,  supposing  that  commis- 


208  LIFE    OF   WASHINGTON. 

sions  and  rank  might  depend  on  recruiting  men,  began,  without 
permission,  to  enlist  soldiers  to  serve  particularly  under  them. 
This  practice  it  was  necessary  to  stop.  All  further  enlistments 
under  particular  officers  were  forbidden,  till  directions  to  that  effect 
should  be  given.  "  Commissions  in  the  army,"  say  the  orders, 
"  are  not  intended  for  those  who  can  raise  the  most  men,  but  for 
such  gentlemen  as  are  most  likely  to  deserve  them.  The  general 
would  not  have  it  even  supposed,  nor  our  enemies  encouraged  to 
believe,  that  there  is  a  man  in  his  army  (except  a  few  under  par 
ticular  circumstances)  who  will  require  to  be  twice  asked  to  do 
what  his  honour,  his  personal  liberty,  the  welfare  of  his  country, 
and  the  safety  of  his  family,  so  loudly  demand  of  him.  Where 
motives  powerful  as  these,  conspire  to  call  men  into  service,  and 
when  that  service  is  rewarded  with  higher  pay  than  private  soldiers 
ever  yet  received  in  any  former  war,  the  general  cannot,  nor  will 
not,  until  convinced  to  the  contrary,  harbour  so  despicable  an 
opinion  of  their  understanding  and  their  zeal  for  the  cause,  as  to 
believe  they  will  desert  it." 

At  the  same  time  that  General  Washington  urged  these  appeals 
upon  the  troops,  he  communicated  his  sentiments  with  equal  earn 
estness  to  Congress. 

"  The  disadvantages,"  he  observed,  «  attending  the  limited  en 
listment  of  troops  are  too  apparent  to  those  who  are  eye-witnesses 
of  them,  to  render  any  animadversions  necessary  ;  but  to  gentlemen 
at  a  distance,  whose  attention  is  engrossed  by  a  thousand  important 
objects,  the  case  may  be  otherwise.  That  this  cause  precipitated  the 
fate  of  the  brave,  and  much-to-be-lamented  General  Montgomery, 
and  brought  on  the  defeat  which  followed  thereupon,  I  have  not 
the  most  distant  doubt ;  for  had  he  not  been  apprehensive  of  the 
troops  leaving  him  at  so  important  a  crisis,  but  continued  the 
blockade  of  Quebec,  a  capitulation,  from  the  best  accounts  I  have 
been  able  to  collect,  must  inevitably  have  followed.  And  that  we 
were  not  at  one  time  obliged  to  dispute  these  lines,  under  disad 
vantageous  circumstances,  proceeding  from  the  same  cause,  to 
wit,  the  troops  disbanding  of  themselves  before  the  militia  could 
be  got  in,  is  to  me  a  matter  of  wonder  and  astonishment,  and 
proves,  that  General  Howe  was  either  unacquainted  with  our  situa 
tion,  or  restrained  by  his  instructions  from  putting  any  thing  to 
hazard,  till  his  reinforcements  should  arrive. 

"  The  instance  of  General  Montgomery  (I  mention  it  because  it 
is  a  striking  one,  for  a  number  of  others  might  be  adduced)  proves, 
that,  instead  of  having  men  to  take  advantage  of  circumstances, 


ENLISTMENT    FOR    A    YEAR.  209 

you  are  in  a  manner  compelled,  right  or  wrong,  to  make  circum 
stances  yield  to  a  secondary  consideration.  Since  the  1st  of  De 
cember,  (upwards  of  two  months  previously,)  I  have  been  devising 
every  means  in  my  power  to  secure  these  encampments ;  and 
though  I  am  sensible  that  we  never  have,  since  that  period,  been 
able  to  act  upon  the  offensive,  and  at  times  not  in  a  condition  to 
defend,  yet  the  cost  of  marching  home  one  set  of  men,  bringing 
in  another,  the  havoc  and  waste  occasioned  by  the  first,  the  repairs 
necessary  for  the  second,  with  a  thousand  incidental  charges  and 
inconveniences  which  have  arisen,  and  which  it  is  scarcely  possi 
ble  either  to  recollect  or  describe,  amount  to  nearly  as  much  as 
the  keeping  up  a  respectable  body  of  troops  the  whole  time,  ready 
for  any  emergency,  would  have  done.  To  this  may  be  added, 
that  you  never  can  have  a  well-disciplined  army. 

"  To  bring  men  to  be  well  acquainted  with  the  duties  of  a  sol 
dier,  requires  time.  To  bring  them  under  proper  discipline  and 
subordination,  not  only  requires  time,  but  is  a  work  of  great  diffi 
culty,  and,  in  this  army,  where  there  is  so  little  distinction  be 
tween  officers  and  soldiers,  requires  an  uncommon  degree  of 
attention.  To  expect,  then,  the  same  service  from  raw  and  un 
disciplined  recruits,  as  from  veteran  soldiers,  is  to  expect  what 
never  did,  and  perhaps  never  will  happen.  Men  who  are  fami 
liarized  to  danger,  meet  it  without  shrinking;  whereas,  troops 
unused  to  service  often  apprehend  danger  wrhere  no  danger  is. 
Three  things  prompt  men  to  a  regular  discharge  of  their  duty  in 
time  of  action ;  natural  bravery,  hope  of  reward,  and  fear  of  pun 
ishment.  The  two  first  are  common  to  the  untutored,  and  the  dis 
ciplined  soldier ;  but  the  last  most  obviously  distinguishes  the  one 
from  the  other.  A  coward,  when  taught  to  believe,  that,  if  he 
breaks  his  ranks  and  abandons  his  colours,  he  will  be  punished 
with  death  by  his  own  party,  will  take  his  chance  against  the 
enemy  ;  but  a  man  who  thinks  little  of  the  one,  and  is  fearful  of 
the  other,  acts  from  present  feelings,  regardless  of  the  conse 
quences. 

"  Again,  men  of  a  day's  standing  will  not  look  forward ;  and 
from  experience  we  find,  that,  as  the  time  approaches  for  their 
discharge,  they  grow  careless  of  their  arms,  ammunition,  and 
camp  utensils.  Nay,  even  the  barracks  themselves  have  felt  un 
common  marks  of  wanton  depredation,  and  lay  us  under  fresh 
trouble  and  additional  expense  in  providing  for  every  fresh  set, 
when  we  find  it  next  to  impossible  to  procure  such  articles  as  are 
absolutely  necessary,  in  the  first  instance.  To  this  must  be  added, 
27  s2 


210  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

the  seasoning  which  new  recruits  must  have  to  a  camp,  and  the 
loss  consequent  thereupon.  But  this  is  not  all.  Men  engaged  for 
a  short  and  limited  time  only,  have  the  officers  too  much  in  their 
power  ;  for,  to  obtain  a  degree  of  popularity  in  order  to  induce  a 
second  enlistment,  a  kind  of  familiarity  takes  place,  which  brings 
on  a  relaxation  of  discipline,  unlicensed  furloughs,  and  other  in 
dulgences  incompatible  with  order  and  good  government ;  by 
which  means  the  latter  part  of  the  time  for  which  the  soldier  was 
engaged  is  spent  in  undoing  what  you  were  aiming  to  inculcate 
in  the  first. 

"To  go  into  an  enumeration  of  all  the  evils  we  have  expe 
rienced  in  this  late  great  change  of  the  army,  and  the  expenses  in 
cidental  to  it,  to  say  nothing  of  the  hazard  we  have  run,  and  must 
run,  between  the  discharging  of  one  army  and  the  enlistment  of 
another,  unless  an  enormous  expense  of  militia  is  incurred,  would 
greatly  exceed  the  bounds  of  a  letter.  What  I  have  already  taken 
the  liberty  of  saying,  will  serve  to  convey  a  general  idea  of  the 
matter ;  and  therefore  I  shall,  with  all  due  deference,  take  the 
freedom  to  give  it  as  my  opinion,  that,  if  the  Congress  have  any 
reason  to  believe  that  there  will  be  occasion  for  troops  another 
year,  and  consequently  for  another  enlistment,  they  would  save 
money,  and  have  infinitely  better  troops,  if  they  were,  even  at  a 
bounty  of  twenty,  thirty,  or  more  dollars,  to  engage  the  men  al 
ready  enlisted  till  January  next,  and  such  others  as  may  be  wanted 
to  complete  the  establishment,  for  and  during  the  war.  I  will  not 
undertake  to  say  that  the  men  can  be  had  upon  these  terms  ;  but 
I  am  satisfied  that  it  will  never  do  to  let  the  matter  alone,  as  it 
was  last  year  till  the  term  of  service  was  near  expiring.  The 
hazard  is  too  great,  in  the  first  place  ;  in  the  next,  the  trouble  and 
perplexity  of  disbanding  one  army,  and  raising  another  at  the  same 
instant,  and  in  such  a  critical  situation  as  the  last  was,  are  scarcely 
in  the  power  of  words  to  describe,  and  such  as  no  man  who  has 
experienced  them  once  will  ever  undergo  again. 

"If  Congress  should  differ  from  me  in  sentiment  upon  this  point, 
I  have  only  to  beg  that  they  will  do  me  the  justice  to  believe,  that 
I  have  nothing  more  in  view,  than  what  to  me  appears  necessary 
to  advance  the  public  weal,  although,  in  the  first  instance,  it  will 
be  attended  with  a  capital  expense." 

The  semblance  of  inactivity  which  General  Washington  was 
compelled  to  preserve  while  blockading  Boston,  was  matter  of  con 
siderable  annoyance  to  him,  anxious  as  he  was,  by  some  great 
exploit,  to  show  himself  worthy  of  the  honourable  post  to  which  he 


DESTITUTION    OF  THE    ARMY.  211 

had  been  advanced.  As  the  winter  approached,  the  army  suffered 
severely  for  want  of  fuel,  clothes,  and  provisions.  The  period  of 
enlistment  was  drawing  to  a  close,  and  recruits  came  in  but  slowly 
to  occupy  the  places  of  those  who  insisted  upon  returning  home. 
Some  discontent  prevailed,  at  what  was  considered  the  sluggish 
ness  and  undue  caution  of  the  commander-in-chief,  in  permitting 
the  enemy  to  remain  so  long  unmolested.  Under  these  painful 
circumstances,  the  general  wrote  to  the  Congress,  in  terms  which 
will  convey  some  idea  of  their  incapacity  to  conduct  a  war  : 

"It  gives  me  great  pain,"  he  said,  "to  be  obliged  to  solicit  the 
attention  of  the  honourable  Congress  to  the  state  of  this  army,  in 
terms  which  imply  the  slightest  apprehension  of  being  neglected. 
But  my  situation  is  inexpressibly  distressing,  to  see  the  winter  fast 
approaching  upon  a  naked  army,  the  time  of  their  service  within  a 
few  weeks  of  expiring,  and  no  provision  yet  made  for  such  important 
events.  Added  to  these,  the  military  chest  is  totally  exhausted ; 
the  paymaster  has  not  a  single  dollar  in  hand ;  the  commissary- 
general  he  assures  me  has  strained  his  credit  for  the  subsistence  of 
the  army  to  the  utmost.  The  quarter-master-general  is  precisely 
in  the  same  situation  ;  and  the  greater  part  of  the  troops  are  in  a 
state  not  far  from  mutiny,  upon  the  deduction  from  their  stated 
allowance.  I  know  not  to  whom'I  am  to  impute  this  failure;  but  I 
am  of  opinion,  if  the  evil  is  not  immediately  remedied,  and  more 
punctuality  observed  in  future,  the  army  must  absolutely  break  up. 
I  hoped  I  had  so  fully  expressed  myself  on  this  subject,  both  by 
letter,  and  those  members  of  the  committee  who  honoured  the  camp 
with  a  visit,  that  no  disappointment  could  possibly  happen.  I 
therefore  hourly  expected  advice  from  the  paymaster,  that  he  had 
received  a  fresh  supply  in  addition  to  the  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
two  thousand  dollars  delivered  to  him  in  August ;  and  thought 
myself  warranted  to  assure  the  public  creditors,  that  in  a  few  days 
they  should  be  satisfied.  But  the  delay  has  brought  matters  to 
such  a  crisis  as  admits  of  no  farther  uncertain  expectation.  I  have 
therefore  sent  off  this  express  with  orders  to  make  all  possible  de 
spatch.  It  is  my  most  earnest  request,  that  he  may  be  returned 
with  all  possible  expedition,  unless  the  honourable  Congress  have 
already  forwarded  what  is  so  indispensably  necessary." 

The  innumerable  difficulties  under  which  General  Washington 
was  compelled  to  labour,  by  the  culpable  neglect,  or  too  great  cau 
tion  of  Congress,  are  thus  succinctly  stated  by  Monsieur  Guizot  in 
his  introduction  to  the  translation  of  Washington's  writings  into 
French.  "From  the  first,"  he  says,  "the  task  of  Washington  lay 


212  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

before  him  in  all  its  extent  and  its  complexity.  To  carry  on  the 
war,  he  not  only  had  to  create  an  army;  for,  however  difficult  such 
an  operation  must  at  all  times  be,  there  the  creative  power  was 
itself  wanting ;  the  United  States  were  as  destitute  of  a  government 
as  of  an  army.  The  Congress,  a  mere  phantom,  a  delusive  point 
of  union,  had  no  right  and  no  power  to  act,  and  neither  dared  nor 
did  any  thing.  Washington,  from  his  camp,  was  obliged,  not  only 
unceasingly  to  solicit  support,  but  to  suggest  to  Congress  what 
was  required  to  be  done  in  order  to  accomplish  its  work,  and  to 
prevent  both  Congress  and  the  army  from  becoming  a  mere  dead 
letter.  His  letters  were  read  in  the  House,  and  formed  the  subject 
of  their  debates,  but  those  debates  were  characterized  by  inexperi 
ence,  timidity,  and  mistrust.  Promises  and  pretences  were  all 
that  could  be  obtained  :  matters  were  referred  to  the  local  govern 
ments  ;  and  the  power  of  the  army  was  an  object  of  constant  dread. 
Washington  replied  respectfully,  obeyed  orders,  and  then  insisted 
to  demonstration  upon  the  fallacy  of  pretences,  and  the  necessity  of 
supporting  by  real  power  that  titular  authority  with  which  they  had 
invested  him,  and  that  army  to  which  they  looked  for  victory.  Men 
of  intellect,  courage,  and  devotion  to  the  cause,  were  not  wanting 
in  that  Assembly,  however  unaccustomed  to  govern  it  had  hitherto 
been.  Some  of  them  visited  the  camp,  saw  with  their  own  eyes, 
conversed  with  Washington,  and  brought  back  with  them,  on  their 
return,  the  authority  of  their  own  observations  and  of  his  advice. 
The  Assembly  became  better  informed,  more  resolute,  more  confid 
ing  in  its  resources  and  in  the  general  of  its  choice.  The  mea 
sures  he  required  were  passed  ;  the  powers  he  needed  were  con 
ferred  upon  him.  He  then  entered  into  correspondence  and  nego 
tiation  with  the  local  governments,  with  the  local  assemblies,  with 
committees,  with  magistrates,  with  private  citizens,  pointing  out 
facts  to  their  observation,  calling  upon  their  good  sense  and  pa 
triotism,  turning  his  own  private  friendships  to  the  advantage  of 
the  public  service,  carefully  avoiding  all  umbrage  to  the  spirit  of 
democracy  or  the  sensitiveness  of  personal  vanity,  preserving  his 
rank,  speaking  with  authority,  but  without  offence,  and  with  the 
persuasiveness  of  moderation :  wonderfully  skilled  in  ruling  men 
by  their  sense  of  what  was  right  and  virtuous,  whilst  he  observed 
the  most  prudent  treatment  of  the  frailties  of  human  nature. 

"But  when  he  had  succeeded  thus  far  ;  when  first  the  Congress, 
and  afterwards  the  different  states  had  given  him  the  materials  of 
an  army,  his  task  was  yet  unaccomplished  ;  the  work  of  war  was 
scarcely  begun,  the  army  itself  not  yet  in  existence.  Here,  again, 


THE  GOVERNMENT  AND  THE  ARMY.    213 

he  was  met  by  complete  inexperience,  by  the  same  absence  of 
unity,  the  same  passion  for  individual  independence,  the  same 
conflict  between  patriotic  intentions,  and  anarchical  propensities. 
Here,  again,  he  had  to  rally  the  most  discordant  elements,  to  hold 
together  elements  which  threatened  immediate  dissolution,  to  in 
struct,  to  persuade,  to  act  by  every  means  of  precaution  and  of 
influence,  to  obtain,  in  short,  without  compromising  his  dignity  or 
his  power,  the  moral  support  and  free  co-operation  of  his  officers, 
and  even  of  his  soldiers. 

"Then  first  could  Washington  act  as  a  general,  and  turn  his 
thoughts  to  the  conduct  of  the  war  ;  say  rather,  that  during  the  war 
itself,  amidst  its  incidents,  its  chances,  and  its  perils,  he  had  con 
stantly  to  recommence  in  the  country,  as  well  as  in  the  army,  the 
laborious  task  of  organizing  and  directing  the  administration." 

Washington  had,  early  in  the  autumn,  called  the  attention  of 
Congress  to  the  imminent  danger  which  threatened  the  army,  in 
consequence  of  the  troops  having  enlisted  but  for  one  year,  which 
term  would  expire  at  the  end  of  December.  A  committee  was 
accordingly  appointed  to  repair  to  head-quarters  to  provide  for  the 
enlistment  of  the  army  for  the  year  1776.  They  found,  at  the 
expiration  of  the  year,  the  names  of  only  nine  thousand,  six  hundred 
and  fifty  soldiers  on  the  general's  muster-roll.  In  consequence  of 
their  exertions,  the  numbers  were  increased  by  accessions  from  the 
militia  to  seventeen  thousand.  This  dissolution  of  one  army  and 
the  assemblage  of  another,  in  the  face  of  a  superior  enemy,  placed 
the  commander-in-chief  in  a  critical  situation.  In  allusion  to  this 
he  wrote  to  Congress  : — "It  is  not  in  the  pages  of  history,  perhaps, 
to  furnish  a  case  like  ours — to  maintain  a  post  within  musket-shot 
of  the  enemy  for  six  months  together  without  powder  ;  and,  at  the 
same  time,  to  disband  one  army  and  recruit  another  within  that  dis 
tance  of  twenty  odd  British  regiments,  is  more,  probably,  than  was 
ever  attempted.  But  if  we  succeed  as  well  in  the  last  as  we  have 
heretofore  in  the  first,  I  shall  think  it  the  most  fortunate  event  of  my 
whole  life." 

Though  the  centre  of  resistance  to  British  encroachments  was 
in  New  England,  it  extended  to  the  other  colonies,  as  we  have 
already  incidentally  mentioned.  Virginia,  from  the  first,  had 
taken  a  prominent  part.  Lord  Dunmore,  the  governor,  soon  for 
feited  his  popularity,  by  his  efforts  against  the  colonists  ;  and  their 
resentment  was  heightened  by  ministers  laying  before  parliament 
some  letters,  in  which  he  mentioned  their  proceedings  with  ex 
treme  bitterness.  Then  attempting  to  remove  some  powder  on 


214 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


board  of  a  vessel  in  the  harbour,  he  was  compelled  to  restore  it, 
and  take  refuge  himself  on  shipboard.  Finding  his  power  on  the 
continent  entirely  at  an  end,  he  endeavoured  to  restore  it  by  partial 
and  detached  landings,  with  inadequate  forces,  which  only  irri 
tated,  without  overawing.  He  had  then  recourse  to  the  extreme 
measure  of  not  only  summoning  all  capable  of  bearing  arms  to  join 
his  standard,  but  offering  liberty  to  all  slaves  who  should  follow 
their  example ;  a  step  tending  to  exasperate  the  proprietary 
classes.  Having  thus,  however,  collected  a  small  force,  he  took 
possession  of  Norfolk,  the  principal  port  of  Virginia.  The  provin 
cials  assembled  a  considerable  body  of  troops,  and  assumed  a  for 
tified  position  on  the  river  Elizabeth  ;  while  the  English  were  in 
trenched  on  the  opposite  bank.  Captain  Fordyce,  sent  to  dislodge 
them,  advanced  briskly  to  the  attack,  but  was  warmly  received 
both  in  front  and  flank,  and  his  column  retreated,  though  without 
being  pursued.  Lord  Dunmore  was  then  obliged  to  retire  on  board 
the  vessels,  where  he  was  still  annoyed  by  discharges  from  the 
houses  nearest  the  water.  He  effected  a  landing,  set  them  on  fire, 

and  the  whole  town  was  soon  re 
duced  to  ashes.  Dunmore,  how 
ever,  being  unable  to  make  any 
serious  impression,  or  even  to  pro 
cure  provisions,  sailed  to  the  West 
Indies,  where  he  left  the  negroes, 
and  proceeded  to  join  the  main 
army. 

Governor  Martin,  in  North  Caro 
lina,  was  involved  in  similar  contro 
versies  with  the  provincial  conven 
tion,  which  also  led  to  his  retire 
ment  on  board  a  ship  of  war.  In 
the  interior,  however,  a  number  of 
Highlanders,  recently  emigrated 
from  Scotland,  were  mustered  by 
General  McDonald,  who  was  at  first 
master  of  the  field,  but  allowed  him 
self  to  be  amused  by  Colonel  Moore, 
the  opposite  commander,  till  the 
country  had  risen  around  him.  He 
then  attempted  a  retreat,  but  was 
forced  into  action ;  several  of  the 
best  officers,  and  many  of  the  pri- 


HIOHLA-ND     OFFICER. 


TREATMENT   OF    PRISONERS.  215 

vate  soldiers,  were  brought  down  in  the  first  onset  by  the  American 
rifles,  and  the  rest  fled  in  confusion. 

Lord  William  Campbell,  governor  of  South  Carolina,  was  equally 
obliged  to  seek  security  on  shipboard,  and  joined  Martin  in  the 
vicinity  of  Cape  Fear. 

Governor  Tryon,  also,  at  New  York,  betook  himself  to  a  similar 
refuge,  but  still  retained  command  of  the  harbour,  and  preserved 
an  intercourse  with  the  numerous  loyalists  in  that  quarter. 

Governors  Eden  and  Franklin,  in  Maryland  and  New  Jersey, 
contrived  to  maintain  their  places,  but  not  to  exercise  any  juris 
diction. 

In  the  mean  time,  General  Washington,  before  Boston,  was  in 
formed  that  the  prisoners  taken  by  Governor  Gage  were  treated  by 
him  in  the  most  cruel  and  insulting  manner.  He  affected  to  con 
sider  them  as  rebels  and  traitors,  who  had  taken  up  arms  against 
their  king  without  cause,  and  without  justice.  Accordingly,  when 
they  fell  into  his  hands,  he  treated  them  as  felons,  throwing  them 
into  the  common  prison,  and  making  no  distinction  between  the 
officers  and  soldiers,  the  dangerously  wounded  and  unwounded. 
General  Washington  immediately  wrote  to  him,  deprecating  such 
a  course,  and  threatening  retaliation. 

"  Let  your  opinion,  sir,  of  the  principle  which  actuates  them," 
he  says,  "be  what  it  may,  they  suppose  that  they  act  from  the  no 
blest  of  all  principles, — a  love  of  freedom  and  their  country.  My 
duty  now  makes  it  necessary,"  he  continues,  "to  apprize  you,  that, 
for  the  future,  I  shall  regulate  all  my  conduct  towards  those  gen 
tlemen  who  are  or  may  be  in  our  possession,  exactly  by  the  rule 
you  shall  observe  towards  those  of  ours  now  in  your  custody.  If 
severity  and  hardship  mark  the  line  of  your  conduct,  painful  as  it 
may  be  to  me,  your  prisoners  will  feel  its  effects.  But,  if  kind 
ness  and  humanity  are  shown  to  ours,  I  shall  with  pleasure  con 
sider  those  in  our  hands  only  as  unfortunate,  and  they  shall  receive 
from  me  that  treatment  to  which  the  unfortunate  are  ever  en 
titled." 

General  Gage,  in  his  answer,  denied  the  charge  of  cruelty  or 
barbarity,  but  acknowledged  that  the  prisoners  were  lodged  indis 
criminately,  "  for,"  says  he,  "I  acknowledge  no  rank  that  is  not 
derived  from  the  king."  Washington  replied,  but  not  producing 
the  desired  effect,  he  resolved  to  adopt  the  same  mode  of  treatment 
towards  the  British  prisoners  in  his  hands.  Accordingly,  he  gave 
orders  that  the  officers  at  Watertown  and  Cape  Ann,  who  were  pri 
soners,  should  be  removed  to  Northampton,  and  confined  in  the 


216  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

jail  in  that  town,  along  with  the  other  prisoners.  This  order  was 
obeyed,  so  far  as  related  to  the  removal,  but  Washington  could 
not  bring  his  mind  to  an  act  so  cruel  and  harsh  as  their  imprison 
ment  would  appear  to  be,  and  the  next  day,  by  his  secretary,  wrote 
to  the  committee  of  Northampton,  requiring  them  to  allow  the  offi 
cers,  on  their  parole,  to  enjoy  the  liberty  of  walking  about  the 
town. 

When  the  command  of  the  British  forces  devolved  upon  Gene 
ral  Howe,  he  adopted  a  milder  course  towards  his  prisoners, 
and  relieved  Washington  from  a  fruitful  source  of  trouble  and 
anxiety. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  besieging  army  laboured  under  accumu 
lated  difficulties.  The  scarcity  of  ammunition,  notwithstanding 
every  effort,  continued  almost  unabated  ;  while  the  wrant  of  money, 
as  well  as  of  necessary  equipments,  was  severely  felt  through  all 
that  rigorous  winter.  Washington  describes  his  situation  as  inex 
pressibly  distressing,  and  declares,  that  unless  some  remedy  were 
devised,  the  force  must  be  broken  up.  Amidst  all  his  distresses, 
it  was  necessary  to  keep  up  a  good  face  towards  the  enemy,  while 
many  on  the  American  side,  exaggerating  both  the  numbers  and 
efficiency  of  his  troops,  wondered  he  should  remain  inactive,  and 
not  have  already  driven  the  English  out  of  Boston.  Extremely- 
sensitive  to  troubles  and  opposition,  these  criticisms  touched  him 
sensibly  ;  yet,  as  a  true  patriot,  he  carefully  concealed  the  explana 
tion,  which,  reaching  the  opposite  party,  would  have  produced 
fatal  effects. 

In  February,  1776,  having  collected  nearly  seventeen  thousand 
men,  Washington  thought  it  possible  to  destroy  the  British  army 
in  Boston,  and  in  that  way  bring  the  wTar  to  a  conclusion  at  one 
blow.  «  No  man  on  earth,"  said  he  to  the  President  of  Congress, 
"  wishes  more  ardently  to  destroy  the  nest  in  Boston,  than  I  do  ; 
no  person  would  be  willing  to  go  greater  lengths  than  I  shall  to 
accomplish  it,  if  it  be  thought  advisable."  Three  successive  coun 
cils  of  war  induced  him  to  give  up  the  plan,  but  his  conviction 
was  not  altered,  and  he  spoke  of  this  adverse  decision  with  great 
regret.* 

The  counsel  of  war  which  decided  the  inexpediency  of  attacking 
the  troops  in  Boston,  unanimously  advised  the  occupation  of  Dor 
chester  heights,  to  the  extreme  right  of  the  American  lines.  These 
heights  commanded  the  bay,  Roxbury  neck,  and  Boston  harbour. 
On  the  night  of  the  4th  of  March,  during  a  brisk  cannonade  and 

*  See  his  letter  to  the  President  of  Congress,  dated  26th  of  February,  1776. 


PREPARATIONS    FOR    AN   ATTACK.  217 

bombardment  from  a  distant  point  of  the  American  lines,  a  detach 
ment  of  twelve  hundred  men,  who  worked  all  night,  guarded  by 
about  seven  hundred  under  arms,  occupied  and  fortified  this  im 
portant  position.  The  British,  whose  attention  was  directed,  dur 
ing  the  time,  to  the  cannonade,  were  startled  to  find,  at  dawn  of 
day,  a  powerful  host,  strongly  intrenched  in  a  position  incompati 
ble  with  the  longer  safety  of  the  fleet  in  the  bay,  or  the  army  in 
their  intrenchments.  Pressed  by  the  alternative  of  a  sudden  and 
perilous  evacuation,  or  an  attempt  to  dislodge  the  detachment  on 
the  heights,  bravery,  and  perhaps  necessity,  determined  them  to 
adopt  the  latter  course. 

The  5th  of  March,  a  day  ominous  for  the  soldiers  of  the  king, 
arrived.  It  had  memories  of  blood  connected  with  it,  and  blended 
with  the  zeal  for  liberty,  the  thirst  and  strength  of  vengeance. 
Both  parties  prepared  for  the  final  struggle,  conscious  that  success, 
at  that  early  period  of  the  contest,  would  go  far  to  determine  the 
fortune  of  the  wrar.  As  on  the  day  of  Bunker  Hill,  every  eminence 
in  and  around  Boston  was  covered  with  anxious  spectators,  watch 
ing  for  the  terrible  fray,  in  whose  event  so  many  public  and  indi 
vidual  feelings  wrere  involved.  In  the  American  bosom  wrere 
gathered  resentment,  coupled  writh  a  patriotic  ardour  to  expel  from 
the  soil  the  arms  and  presence  of  its  enslavers,  and  the  powerful, 
though  new  impulses  of  a  rising  ambition.  In  that  of  the  long 
cooped-up  army  swelled  the  yet  unabated  confidence  in  the  supe 
riority  of  British  arms,  and  a  desire,  at  every  hazard,  of  escaping 
from  the  ignominy  of  inaction  under  the  insulting  menaces  of  a 
blockading  army,  as  well  as  a  stinging  memory  of  the  former  fields 
in  which  they  had  encountered  them.  With  these  feelings  inflam 
ing  all  the  martial  passions  of  the  two  hostile  forces,  now  nearly  on 
an  equality — for  the  one  was  superior  in  numbers  as  the  other  was 
in  discipline  and  military  resources — the  encounter  would  have 
been  a  terrible  and  bloody  one.  But  it  was  their  fate  not  to  meet. 
The  British  detachment  ordered  to  dislodge  the  Americans,  not  in- 

O 

tending  to  commence  the  assault  before  'the  morning  of  the  6th, 
were  embarked  on  board  their  transports,  and  fell  down  to  Castle 
William,  to  be  in  readiness  to  make  the  attack  by  daylight,  from 
that  point.  But  a  storm  arose  during  the  night  which  completely 
scattered  their  boats,  so  as  to  render  it  impossible  to  make  the  in 
tended  attack.  Washington  prepared,  at  the  other  side,  to  lead 
four  thousand  picked  men  into  the  heart  of  the  British  camp,  as 
soon  as  any  considerable  detachment  should  be  engaged  in  the 
enterprise  which  they  had  planned,  and  now  saw,  with  mortifica- 
28  T 


218  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

tion,  that  once  more  he  was  disappointed  in  his  anxiety  to  bring 
on  a  general  action. 

General  Howe,  finding  his  situation  rendered  more  precarious 
by  this  mischance,  determined  in  a  council  of  war,  hurriedly  called, 
to  evacuate  the  town.  Information  of  this  determination,  and  of 
the  fact  that  the  safety  of  Boston  depended  on  the  inactivity  of  the 
American  forces,  being  conveyed  to  General  Washington,  he  de 
termined  to  offer  no  interruption  to  the  departure  of  the  British  ; 
but,  at  the  same  time,  he  prepared  by  fortifying  Nook's  Hill,  and 
drawing  his  lines  closer  around  Boston,  to  attack  them  at  a  mo 
ment's  notice,  should  they  manifest  the  least  disposition  to  injure 
the  town.  It  was  reported  that  they  were  bound  for  Halifax,  but 
General  Washington  thought  that  this  report  was  propagated  by 
them,  in  order  to  conceal  their  real  course,  while  they  actually  in 
tended  to  proceed  to  New  York,  or  some  more  southern  port.  With 
this  idea  he  immediately  despatched  Brigadier-general  Heath  with 
six  regiments,  and  before  the  end  of  March,  Brigadier-general  Sul 
livan,  with  six  more,  for  the  defence  of  that  city  ;  intending  to  fol 
low  himself  with  the  remainder  of  the  army,  as  soon  as  the  British 
had  entirely  gone. 

About  nine  o'clock,  on  the  morning  of  the  17th  of  March,  the 
British  troops  precipitately  embarked,  without  attempting  the  de 
struction  of  Boston,  but  they  remained  within  sight  of  the  town  ten 
days  longer,  and  then  steered  for  Halifax. 

General  Washington  entered  Boston,  as  the  vessels  of  the  enemy 
were  yet  sluggishly  and,  as  if  reluctantly,  struggling  through  the 
bay,  not  without  regret,  even  though  he  acquired  so  signal  and 
cheap  an  advantage,  that  he  was  not  able  to  prevent  this  army  of 
invasion  from  transferring  its  operations  to  another  part  of  his  de 
voted  country.  The  citizens  of  Boston  received  their  countrymen 
with  exulting  shouts,  which  all  America  fervently  echoed.  The 
General  Assembly  of  Massachusetts,  in  an  address  to  the  gene 
ral,  on  this  happy  occasion,  tendered  him  their  grateful  thanks  for 
his  attention  to  the  civil  constitution  of  the  colony,  whilst  acting  in 
the  line  of  his  department,  and  expressed  their  unrestrained  joy  in 
the  delivery  of  the  colony  from  the  hateful  presence  of  their  ene 
mies. 

When  the  Congress  at  Philadelphia  received  intelligence  of  the 
evacuation  of  Boston,  they  resolved,  "That  the  thanks  of  this  Con 
gress,  in  their  own  name,  and  in  the  name  of  the  thirteen  united 
colonies,  whom  they  represent,  be  presented  to  his  excellency, 
General  Washington,  and  the  officers  and  soldiers  under  his  com- 


EVACUATION    OF    BOSTON.  219 

mand,  for  their  wise  and  spirited  conduct  at  the  siege  and  acquisi 
tion  of  Boston  ;  and  that  a  medal  be  struck  in  commemoration  of 
this  great  event,  and  presented  to  his  excellency ;  and  that  a  com 
mittee  of  three  be  appointed  to  prepare  a  letter  of  thanks,  and  a 
proper  device  for  the  medal." 

The  following  was  accordingly  addressed  to  General  Washington 
by  the  president  of  Congress. 

«  Philadelphia,  April  2,  1776. 

"Sin, — It  gives  me  the  most  sensible  pleasure  to  convey  to  you, 
by  order  of  Congress,  the  only  tribute  which  a  free  people  will  ever 
consent  to  pay,  the  tribute  of  thanks  and  gratitude  to  their  friends 
and  benefactors.  The  disinterested  and  patriotic  principles  which 
led  you  to  the  field,  have  also  led  you  to  glory  ;  and  it  affords  no 
little  consolation  to  your  countrymen  to  reflect,  that,  as  a  peculiar 
greatness  of  mind  induced  you  to  decline  any  compensation  for 
serving  them,  except  the  pleasure  of  promoting  their  happiness, 
they  may,  without  your  permission,  bestow  upon  you  the  largest 
share  of  their  affections  and  esteem. 

"Those  pages  in  the  annals  of  America  will  record  your  title  to 
a  conspicuous  place  in  the  temple  of  fame,  which  shall  inform  pos 
terity,  that,  under  your  direction,  an  undisciplined  band  of  husband 
men,  in  the  course  of  a  few  months,  became  soldiers  ;  and  that  the 
desolation  meditated  against  the  country  by  a  brave  army  of  vete 
rans,  commanded  by  the  most  experienced  generals,  but  employed 
by  bad  men  in  the  worst  of  causes,  was,  by  the  fortitude  of  your 
troops,  and  the  address  of  their  officers,  next  to  the  kind  interposi 
tion  of  Providence,  confined  for  near  a  year  within  such  narrow 
limits  as  scarcely  to  admit  more  room  than  was  necessary  for  the 
encampments  and  fortifications  they  lately  abandoned.  Accept, 
therefore,  sir,  the  thanks  of  the  United  Colonies,  unanimously  de 
clared  by  their  delegates  to  be  due  to  you,  and  the  brave  officers 
and  troops  under  your  command  ;  and  be  pleased  to  communicate 
to  them  this  distinguished  mark  of  the  approbation  of  their  country. 
The  Congress  have  ordered  a  golden  medal  adapted  to  the  occasion 
to  be  struck,  and  when  finished  to  be  presented  to  you. 

"I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  every  sentiment  of  esteem,  sir, 
your  most  obedient  and  very  humble  servant, 

"JoHN  HANCOCK,  President." 

This  letter  was  received  by  General  Washington  at  New  York, 
on  the  17th  of  April,  when  he  immediately  in  general  orders  com 
municated  the  thanks  of  Congress  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  under 


220  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

his  command ;  and  in  his  letter  to  Congress,  informing  them  that 
he  had  executed  their  order,  in  so  doing,  he  observes  :  "They  were 
indeed,  at  first,  <  a  band  of  undisciplined  husbandmen ;  but  it  is, 
under  God,  to  their  bravery  and  attention  to  their  duty,  that  I  am 
indebted  for  that  success  which  has  procured  me  the  only  reward 
which  I  wish  to  receive,  the  affection  and  esteem  of  my  country 
men." 

The  intelligence  of  these  proceedings  excited  in  England  that 
spirit  which  former  examples  might  lead  us  to  expect.  The  minis 
try  determined  upon  the  most  vigorous  measures  to  put  down  a 
movement  which  had  now  assumed  the  character  of  open  insurrec 
tion.  The  nation  poured  in  addresses,  which  appear  to  have  ex 
pressed  decided  assurances  of  public  support.  Penn,  the  hereditary 
governor  of  Pennsylvania,  arrived  with  the  address  from  Congress  to 
the  king,  and  endeavoured  to  second  it,  declaring  his  positive 
belief  that  the  sentiments  expressed  in  it  were  sincere.  It  was 
rejected,  however,  as  coming  from  an  illegal  body,  and  consisting 
only  of  a  series  of  empty  professions,  which  their  actions  belied. 
The  royal  speech  at  the  opening  of  parliament,  on  the  26th  October, 
1775,  lamented  that  a  desperate  faction,  by  gross  misrepresenta 
tions,  had  inflamed  the  mind  of  the  people,  overawed  the  well- 
affected,  and  amid  protestations  of  loyalty  and  attachment  to  the 
parent  state,  openly  raised  the  standard  of  rebellion.  It  was  added 
that  these  persons  now  obviously  aimed  at  total  independence,  and 
hence  clemency  as  well  as  prudence  called  for  decisive  exertions 
speedily  to  put  down  such  disorders;  that  those  of  the  misled  multi 
tude  who  should  repent  of  their  error  would  experience  the  utmost 
lenity,  and  be  received  into  favour,  as  if  they  had  never  revolted  ; 
and  that  individuals  on  the  spot  would  be  invested  with  discretionary 
powers  to  grant  immediate  pardon  and  indemnity  to  any  province 
or  colony  wrhich  should  return  to  its  allegiance.  Offers  of  aid  had 
been  received  from  several  foreign  powers ;  and  there  was  no  reason 
to  apprehend  hostility  or  impediment  from  any  quarter. 

The  debates  then  followed  in  their  usual  train,  ministers  retaining 
their  inflexible  majority,  while  the  opposition  displayed  unabated 
energy,  and  even  a  small  increase  of  numbers.  The  Duke  of  Graf- 
ton,  who  had  hitherto  taken  the  side  of  the  government,  declared 
himself  to  have  been  misled  by  the  supposition  that  their  measures 
would  issue  in  the  peaceful  adjustment  of  differences.  He  now 
urged  a  liberal  course  of  conciliation,  by  repealing  all  the  obnoxious 
acts  passed  since  1763  ;  but  unable  to  procure  the  concurrence  of 
the  cabinet,  he  resigned  the  seals,  and  took  a  decided  place  in  the 


DEBATES    OF    THE    BRITISH    PARLIAMENT.      221 

opposite  ranks.  The  thunders  of  indignant  eloquence  were  no 
longer  heard  from  Chatham,  who  wTas  confined  with  illness  ;  but 
Camden,  Richmond,  and  Shelburne,  declared  Great  Britain  to  have 
been  in  every  instance  the  aggressor,  and  stigmatized  her  proceed 
ings  as  oppressive,  cruel,  unjust,  and  unrelenting,  while  they  ac 
quitted  America  of  any  design  of  aiming  at  independence.  Wilkes 
asserted  that  ministers  had  wrested  the  sceptre  out  of  the  hands  of 
the  sovereign.  Colonel  Barre  severely  censured  the  conduct  of 
the  campaign,  and  held  out  the  most  gloomy  prospects.  The 
British  army,  he  said,  was  a  mere  wen,  a  little  excrescence  on  the 
vast  continent  of  America.  Fox  characterized  Lord  North  as  the 
blundering  pilot  who  had  brought  the  vessel  of  the  state  into  its 
present  difficulties ;  in  one  campaign  he  had  lost  a  whole  continent. 
The  provincials,  he  admitted,  were  not  justifiable  to  the  extent  they 
had  gone ;  yet,  if  they  had  not  resisted  at  all,  he  would  have  thought 
them  still  more  culpable.  Mr.  Adam,  praising  his  lordship  for 
ability  and  public  virtue,  accused  him  of  indolence.  The  minister 
admitted  this  charge,  but  declared  he  had  been  forced  into  the 
situation,  and  had  been  deceived  in  events,  never  imagining  that 
all  America  would  have  risen  in  arms.  He  pathetically  lamented, 
his  own  situation,  under  the  weight  of  which,  amid  all  its  power 
and  pageantry,  he  felt  himself  ready  to  sink.  The  rejection  by  the 
provincials  of  his  conciliatory  plan,  proved  the  necessity  of  using 
force,  yet  without  the  least  intention  of  reducing  them  to  slavery. 
It  was  his  object,  immediately  on  their  submission,  to  establish  a 
most  just,  mild,  and  equitable  government. 

The  address  to  the  king,  forming  a  regular  echo  to  the  speech, 
was  carried  in  the  Commons  by  one  hundred  and  seventy-six  to 
seventy-two,  and  in  the  Lords  by  seventy-five  to  thirty-two. 

The  Duke  of  Grafton,  in  the  Lords,  moved  for  accounts  of  the 
troops  serving  and  to  be  employed  in  America.  This  was  ob 
jected  to,  as  giving  information  to  the  enemy,  and  was  not  pressed. 
The  Duke  of  Richmond  introduced  the  petition  from  Congress  to 
the  king,  as  an  opening  for  pacification,  and  seeing  in  the  house 
Mr.  Penn,  from  Pennsylvania,  obtained,  with  much  difficulty,  per 
mission  that  he  should  be  examined.  That  gentleman,  as  we  have 
before  seen,  declared  his  belief  that  the  colonies  wrere  willing  to 
acknowledge  the  legislative  authority  of  Britain,  and  did  not  aim 
at  independence  ;  but  they  were  determined  to  resist  arbitrary  tax 
ation,  and  all  the  obnoxious  acts,  so  that  if  no  concessions  were 
made,  they  would  probably  not  hesitate  in  seeking  the  aid  of 
foreign  powers.  The  duke's  motion,  that  the  petition  afforded  a 


222  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

ground  for  conciliation,  was,  after  a  warm  debate,  rejected,  by 
eighty-six  to  thirty-nine. 

In  the  Commons,  Mr.  Burke  brought  forward  a  plan,  which, 
avoiding  all  extremes,  would,  he  hoped,  conciliate  both  parties. 
It  included  the  repeal  of  the  Boston  and  Massachusetts  acts  ;  a  de 
claration  that  Britain  would  not  tax  America  ;  a  general  amnesty  ; 
and  the  calling  of  a  congress  by  royal  authority  to  adjust  the  re 
maining  differences.  Lord  George  Germain,  who  had  recently 
joined  the  ministry,  strenuously  argued  that  concession  must  be 
preceded  by  submission.  Lord  North  could  not  believe  that  it 
would  lead  to  conciliation.  Even  Pownall  insisted  that  any  thing 
short  of  repealing  every  measure  since  1763,  would  not  now  avail, 
and  would  uselessly  present  Great  Britain  in  an  humbled  aspect  as 
suing  for  peace.  This  motion,  however,  wiiich  some  writers  sup 
pose  might  have  saved  America  to  England,  commanded  a  larger 
minority  than  any  former  question,  being  not  less  than  one  hun 
dred  and  five  to  two  hundred  and  ten.  Mr.  Hartley  followed,  with 
a  proposal  for  a  much  larger  concession,  but  could  only  command 
twenty-one  against  one  hundred  and  twenty-three. 

Meantime,  Lord  North  was  carrying  through  a  bill  prohibiting 
all  trade  or  intercourse  with  the  colonies  till  they  should  submit. 
The  Boston  port,  and  other  restraining  acts  were  repealed,  as  be 
ing  all  merged  in  this  greater  measure  ;  and  the  regulations  for  the 
trial  of  the  malecontents  became  unnecessary,  when  the  country 
was  to  be  subjected  to  martial  law.  Commissioners  were  to  go  out 
with  full  powers,  not  only  to  restore  any  colony,  on  submission,  to 
all  its  privileges,  but  to  inquire  into  and  redress  its  well-founded 
complaints.  This  measure  was  opposed  with  extreme  warmth  in 
all  its  stages,  as  ruinous  to  Great  Britain,  and,  in  fact,  proceeding 
on  the  principle  adopted  by  the  colonists  themselves.  The  oppo 
sition,  justifying  the  resistance  of  the  latter,  were  branded  by  min 
istry  as  defenders,  and  little  better  than  adherents  of  rebellion. 
The  bill  was  carried  by  sweeping  majorities,  one  hundred  and 
twelve  to  sixteen  ;  seventy-eight  to  nineteen. 

The  determination  being  thus  formed  to  employ  force,  the  requi 
site  means  were  to  be  provided.  In  the  estimates,  the  number  of 
seamen  was  fixed  at  twenty-eight  thousand,  of  land  forces  at  fifty- 
five  thousand  ;  but  the  difficulty  lay  in  making  up  this  latter  num 
ber.  The  troops  at  Boston,  amounting  to  seven  thousand  four 
hundred,  were  manifestly  inadequate  ;  while  in  Britain  there  was 
merely  the  small  peace  establishment  considered  necessary  for  the 
security  of  the  country.  The  levying  of  a  new  army  by  voluntary 


THE    BRITISH    ARMY.  223 

enlistment  was  difficult  and  tedious  ;  while  an  additional  time 
would  be  required  for  its  training.  In  this  exigency,  ministers  saw 
no  expedient,  except  that  of  having  recourse  to  several  German 
\^  princes,  who  on  former  occasions  had  been  induced,  partly  by  alli 
ance,  buf  more  by  pecuniary  motives,  to  hire  out  their  soldiers  for 
temporary  service.  In  the  beginning,  therefore,  of  1776,  treaties 
were  concluded  with  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse-Cassel,  for  twelve 
thousand  one  hundred  and  four  men,  the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  for 
four  thousand  and  eighty-four,  the  Prince  of  Hesse,  for  six  hundred 
and  sixty-eight,  and  the  Prince  of  Waldeck,  for  six  hundred  and  se 
venty  ;  in  all,  seventeen  thousand  five  hundred  and  twenty-six. 
These  petty  princes,  keeping  in  view  the  extreme  necessity  of  the 
British  government,  extorted  very  advantageous  terms.  The  sum 
of  £7,  4s.  4d.  (about  $36)  was  to  be  paid  for  each  man  ;  and  be 
sides  being  relieved  from  the  whole  burden  of  their  maintenance, 
they  were  to  receive  compensation  for  all  extraordinary  losses,  in 
addition  to  certain  stipends,  amounting  in  all  to  about  <£135,000, 
not  only  during  the  whole  period  of  their  engagement,  but  consi 
derably  longer.  Besides  this  heavy  charge,  the  employment  of  fo 
reign  mercenaries,  subjects  of  despotic  princes,  greatly  aggravated 
the  odium  of  the  undertaking. 

These  treaties,  being  in  the  end  of  February  laid  before  parlia 
ment,  afforded  ample  room  for  invective.  Their  enormous  expense, 
with  the  unconstitutional  and  dangerous  tendency  of  introducing 
into  the  empire  such  vast  bodies  of  mercenaries,  were  dwelt  on  at 
great  length.  The  most  gloomy  views  were  taken  of  the  condition 
and  prospects  of  the  British  force.  The  Duke  of  Manchester  ob 
served,  that  the  defection  from  government  was  total, — "  total,  my 
lords,  besides  the  desolated  prison  of  English  troops,  the  devoted 
Boston."  He  saw  little  prospect  of  success  with  bands  of  German 
mercenaries  and  raw  English  recruits,  said  to  be  partly  drawn 
from  prisons.  Earl  Temple,  however,  while  he  deeply  felt  the  im 
becility  of  ministers,  and  the  deplorable  condition  of  the  country, 
would  not  now  obstruct  their  plan  of  making  peace  sword  in  hand. 
He  hoped  the  first  opportunity  of  doing  so  would  be  seized  ;  at 
present  the  die  of  war  was  cast ;  it  was  time  to  act,  not  talk. 
Townshend  saw  no  reason  to  doubt  the  war  being  ended  in  a  sin 
gle  campaign.  The  measures  were  carried,  and  the  adverse  mo 
tion  negatived  by  the  usual  majorities. 

The  news  of  the  evacuation  of  Boston  arrived  in  England  about 
the  1st  of  May.  The  intelligence  was  published  by  the  ministry 
on  the  3d  of  May,  in  a  short  paragraph,  merely  announcing 


224  LIFE   OF  WASHINGTON. 

that  "his  majesty's  forces  had  embarked  from  Boston  with  the 
greatest  order  and  regularity,  and  without  the  least  interruption 
from  the  rebels,"  and  were  destined  for  Halifax.  One  week  after 
wards,  the  Duke  of  Manchester  moved  an  address  to  the  king, 
praying  him  to  order  that  the  despatches  of  General  Howe  and 
Admiral  Shuldham,  relating  to  the  operations  of  the  army  and  fleet 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Boston,  should  be  laid  before  the  House 
of  Lords.  A  long  and  warm  debate  ensued,  in  the  course  of  which 
the  ministers  were  most  severely  censured  for  the  part  which  they 
had  taken  in  the  recent  occurrences  in  America. 

The  Duke  of  Manchester  complained  of  the  scantiness  of  the  in 
formation  vouchsafed  by  the  ministers,  and  said  that  he  believed, 
as  he  was  informed  by  private  intelligence,  that  General  Howe 
quitted  Boston,  not  of  his  own  free  will ;  but  that  a  superior  enemy, 
by  repeated  efforts,  by  extraordinary  works,  by  the  fire  of  their 
batteries,  rendered  the  place  untenable.  The  Earl  of  Suffolk  de 
fended  the  ministry,  saying,  that  orders  had  been  sent  out  for  a 
removal  of  the  troops  when  the  commander  should  think  proper, 
and  that  after  securing  Halifax,  it  was  the  intention  of  General 
Howe,  to  penetrate  by  that  way  into  the  interior  of  the  country, 
and  thence  pursue  his  future  intended  operations. 

The  Marquis  of  Rockingham,  however,  came  nearest  to  the  true 
state  of  the  case.  After  stating  certain  particulars,  which  he  had 
received  through  a  private  channel,  he  said  : — "  If  those  accounts 
are  true,  of  which  I  have  very  little  doubt,  your  lordships  will  per 
ceive,  though  possibly  there  might  have  been  no  formal  convention 
or  capitulation  signed,  which  I  understood  was  avoided  by  the  ge 
nerals  on  both  sides,  for  particular  reasons,  that,  in  whatever  man 
ner  the  business  might  have  been  negotiated,  it  had  every  substan 
tial  requisite  of  a  treaty  or  compromise,  as  much  as  if  it  had  been 
ever  so  solemnly  authenticated  or  subscribed.  The  troops  were 
permitted  to  evacuate  the  town  without  interruption,  because  they 
engaged  on  the  other  hand  not  to  burn  or  destroy  it,  either  previous 
to  their  departure,  or  after  they  had  got  on  board  their  ships." 
The  same  sentiments  were  expressed  by  Lord  Shelbourne,  and 
other  lords  in  the  opposition,  but  the  minister  persisted  that  he 
had  no  knowledge  or  belief  of  any  such  agreement. 


CAPTURE  OF  COLONEL  CAMPBELL. 


225 


BATTLE- GROUND    OP    TSENTON. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 


of 


HE  British  General  Howe,  when  he  sailed 
from  Boston,  left  some  cruizers  to  watch 
the  entrance  of  the  bay,   and  to  give 
notice  of  the  evacuation  to  such  British 
vessels  as  were  destined  for  that  port. 
r  Notwithstanding  this    precaution,  how- 
y  ever,  several  ships  and  transports  sailed 
into  the  harbour,  and  became  prizes  to 
the  Americans,  who  now  began  with  the 
vessels,  arms,  and  ammunition  thus  ob 
tained  to  fit  out  privateers  to  act  in  some  degree  in  the  place  of  a 
regular  naval  force.     Lieutenant-colonel  Campbell  of  the  British 
army,  with  about  two  hundred  and  seventy  men,  and  a  consider 
able  quantity  of  military  stores,  wras  thus  captured,  while  entering 
the  harbour. 
29 


226  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

Anxious  for  the  safety  of  New  York,  General  Washington  sent 
forward  his  whole  army  to  that  place  except  five  regiments,  which 
he  left  under  the  command  of  General  Ward,  for  the  defence  of 
Boston.  As  soon  as  he  was  sure  that  the  British  vessels  had  cer 
tainly  sailed  from  Nantasket  Roads,  where  they  had  lain  for  ten 
days  after  the  evacuation,  he  proceeded  to  join  his  army,  and  pass 
ing  through  Providence,  Norwich,  and  New  London,  arrived  in 
New  York  on  the  13th  of  April.  That  city  was  but  ill  prepared 
for  defence  in  case  of  the  arrival  of  General  Howe.  The  state 
troops  were  as  deficient  in  arms  as  many  of  the  citizens  were  in 
patriotism.  Many  of  the  most  influential  citizens  were  loyalists, 
and  the  city  itself  lay  open  to  attack  at  any  time,  on  the  side  of  the 
ocean.  Washington's  first  care,  therefore,  was  to  erect  such  forts 
as  would  command  the  approaches  to  the  city,  and  in  some  degree 
overawe  the  inhabitants,  while  vessels  were  sunk  in  the  North  and 
East  Rivers  to  obstruct  the  navigation. 

Though  it  was  soon  ascertained  that  General  Howe,  instead  of 
sailing  to  the  southward,  had  steered  for  Halifax,  Washington  did 
not  allow  himself  to  lose  time,  or  give  his  enemies  an  advantage 
which  skill  or  activity  could  prevent.  As  the  command  of  the 
Hudson  River  was  necessary,  as  well  to  facilitate  the  transmission 
of  supplies  to  the  northern  army,  then  under  the  command  of 
General  Schuyler,  as  to  secure  that  intercourse  between  the  northern 
and  southern  colonies  which  was  of  so  much  consequence  to  the 
Americans,  he  immediately  began  to  fortify  the  passes  in  the  High 
lands  bordering  on  that  river.  It  was  thus  that  the  American 
army  was  actively  employed  until  General  Howe  appeared  with 
the  British  off  Sandy  Hook,  about  the  end  of  June. 

As  early  as  December,  1775,  the  attention  of  the  British  was 
drawn  to  the  importance  of  establishing  a  strong  post  in  the  south, 
with  the  double  object  in  view  of  overawing  the  southern  colonists, 
and  distracting  the  attention  of  General  Washington.  For  this 
purpose  a  large  fleet  was  fitted  out  in  Ireland,  under  the  command 
of  Admiral  Sir  Peter  Parker,  and  General  Clinton  was  detached 
from  Boston  with  instructions  to  use  the  utmost  diligence,  so  as  to 
accomplish  his  object  before  the  opening  the  next  campaign  at  the 
north,  when  he  was  ordered  at  all  events  to  join  General  Howe  at 
New  York.  He  sailed  from  Boston  in  December,  and,  after  touch 
ing  at  New  York,  joined  Governor  Martin,  near  Cape  Fear. 

In  the  beginning  of  June,  the  British  fleet,  under  Sir  Peter  Parker, 
came  to  anchor  in  the  harbour  of  Charleston,  where  it  was  joined 
by  General  Clinton.  Fortunately,  an  official  letter  had  been  inter- 


H 


DEFENCE    OF    FORT    MOULTRIE.  229 

cepted  early  in  the  year,  announcing  the  departure  of  this  arma 
ment,  and  its  destination  against  the  southern  colonies.  This  gave 
the  colonists  an  opportunity  to  be  prepared  for  its  reception.  On 
Sullivan's  Island,  at  the  entrance  of  Charleston  harbour,  a  fort 
had  been  constructed  of  the  wood  of  the  palmetto  tree,  which  in  its 
nature  very  much  resembles  the  cork.  Major-general  Lee  had 
already  been  sent  by  Washington  to  take  the  command  of  any 
forces  which  might  be  collected  in  the  neighbourhood.  His  popu 
larity  soon  collected  a  force  of  from  five  to  six  thousand  men ;  and 
his  high  military  reputation  gave  confidence  to  the  citizens  as  well 
as  soldiers.  Under  him  were  Colonels  Gadsden,  Moultrie,  and 
Thompson.  Colonel  Gadsden  commanded  a  regiment  stationed 
on  the  northern  extremity  of  James  Island ;  two  regiments  under 
Colonels  Moultrie  and  Thompson  occupied  the  opposite  extremities 
of  Sullivan's  Island.  The  remainder  of  the  troops  were  posted  at 
various  points.  General  Clinton  landed  a  number  of  his  troops  on 
Long  Island,  separated  from  Sullivan's  Island  on  the  eastern  side 
by  a  small  creek.  The  fort  on  Sullivan's  Island  was  garrisoned 
by  about  four  hundred  men  commanded  by  Colonel  Moultrie. 
The  attack  on  this  fort  commenced  on  the  morning  of  the  28th  of 
June.  The  ships  opened  their  several  broadsides  upon  it;  and 
General  Clinton  attempted  to  cross  the  creek  from  Long  Island  and 
attack  it  in  the  rear.  The  discharge  of  artillery  upon  this  little 
fort  was  incessant,  but  Moultrie  and  his  brave  Carolinians  returned 
the  fire  with  such  skill  and  spirit  that  many  of  the  ships  suffered 
severely;  one  of  them  ran  aground  and  was  burned  the  next  morn 
ing.  The  British,  after  persisting  in  the  attack  until  dark,  were 
repulsed  and  forced  to  abandon  the  enterprise.  Their  loss  amounted 
to  about  two  hundred,  that  of  the  Americans  to  twenty.  The  pal 
metto  wood,  in  this  instance,  proved  an  effectual  defence,  as  the 
enemy's  balls  did  not  penetrate,  but  sunk  into  it  as  into  earth. 

In  the  course  of  the  engagement,  the  flag-staff  of  the  fort  was  shot 
away  ;  but  Serjeant  Jasper  leaped  down  upon  the  beach,  snatched 
up  the  flag,  fastened  it  to  a  sponge  staff,  and  while  the  ships  were 
incessantly  directing  their  broadsides  upon  the  fort,  he  mounted  the 
merlon  and  deliberately  replaced  the  flag.  Next  day,  President 
Rutledge  presented  him  with  a  sword,  as  a  testimony  of  his  respect 
for  his  distinguished  valour.  Colonel  Moultrie,  and  the  officers  and 
troops  on  Sullivan's  Island,  received  the  thanks  of  their  country  for 
their  bravery,  and  in  honour  of  the  gallant  commander  the  fort 
was  named  Fort  Moultrie. 

The  failure  of  the  attack  on  Charleston  was  of  great  importance 

U 


230 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


MOT7LTRIK. 


to  the  American  cause,  and 
contributed  much  to  the  es 
tablishment  of  the  popular 
government.  The  friends 
of  Congress  triumphed ; 
and  numbers  of  them,  ig 
norant  of  the  power  of  Bri 
tain  and  of  the  spirit  which 
animated  her  counsels, 
began  to  think  that  their 
freedom  was  achieved. 
The  diffident  became  bold ; 
the  advocates  of  the  irre 
sistibility  of  British  fleets 
and  armies  were  mortified 
and  silenced ;  and  they 
who,  from  interested  mo 
tives,  had  hitherto  been 

loud  in  their  professions  of  loyalty,  began  to  alter  their  tone.  The 
brave  defence  of  Fort  Moultrie  saved  the  Southern  States  from  the 
horrors  of  \var  for  several  years.* 

Congress  having  requested  the  presence  of  General  Washington 
to  advise  with  them  on  the  state  of  the  country,  and  such  measures 
as  it  might  be  necessary  to  adopt  for  the  coming  campaign,  he 
repaired  to  Philadelphia,  stopping  by  the  way  to  view  the  capabili 
ties  of  Staten  Island,  with  regard  to  fortifications.  He  left  the 
troops  in  New  York  under  the  command  of  Major-general  Putnam, 
and  passing  through  New  Jersey,  arrived  at  Philadelphia  on  the 
22d  of  May,  1776,  where  he  remained  about  two  weeks.  Con 
gress,  as  well  as  all  the  people  of  the  country,  were  at  this  time  in 
a  high  state  of  excitement.  Affairs  seemed  to  be  hurrying  to  a 
crisis.  News  had  lately  arrived  that  their  petition  to  the  king  had 
been  rejected  ;  that  they  had  been  declared  rebels  ;  that  large 
armies  were  preparing  to  subdue  them ;  and  that  their  whole  com 
merce  was  utterly  prohibited.  A  large  majority  of  the  leading  men, 
spurning  the  very  thought  of  abandoning  all  that  they  had  been  so 
long  contending  for,  and  descending  without  a  struggle  from  the 
proud  rank  of  freemen,  to  be  the  slaves  of  the  servants  of  the  British 
empire,  immediately  formed  the  determined  purpose  of  asserting 
independence.  There  were  many,  however,  who  still  shrunk  from 
entire  separation  ;  and  even  whole  provinces  contended  against  it. 

*  Western  World,  vol.  i.  179,  190. 


THE    QUESTION    OF    INDEPENDENCE.          231 

The  partisans  of  independence,  however,  were  bold  and  indefati 
gable.  They  laboured  incessantly  to  render  the  subject  more 
familiar  to  the  popular  mind  and  ear.  It  was  at  that  time  that  the 
notorious  Thomas  Paine  published  his  pamphlet  called  Common 
Sense,  which  had  a  very  powerful  effect  upon  the  multitude,  in 
bringing  them  over  to  the  side  of  those  who  thought  that  America 
ought  to  declare  herself  a  free  and  independent  state,  and  sever 
for  ever  her  unprofitable  connection  with  Great  Britain.  Congress, 
as  a  preliminary  step,  authorized  the  immediate  suppression  of 
royal  jurisdiction  in  all  the  colonies,  and  the  formation  of  govern 
ments  emanating  from  the  people  ;  while  they  met  the  prohibition 
of  the  British  parliament  against  their  trade,  by  throwing  it  open 
to  the  whole  world  except  Britain.  The  provincial  assemblies  of 
the  different  colonies  took  the  matter  up.  On  the  22d  of  April,  the 
Convention  of  North  Carolina  empowered  their  delegates  to  concur 
with  the  others  in  the  establishment  of  independence.  That  of 
Virginia  went  farther,  instructing  theirs  to  propose  it.  Boston 
was  now  somewhat  less  forward,  merely  intimating  that  if  Congress 
should  think  it  necessary,  they  would  willingly  concur.  To  add 
to  the  difficulties  of  Congress,  it  was  known  from  the  late  proceed 
ings  in  parliament  that  commissioners  were  coming  out  with  pro 
posals  for  an  accommodation.  It  is  supposed  that  the  presence 
and  arguments  of  Washington  had  some  influence  in  inducing 
them  to  vote  an  increase  of  the  army,  by  the  addition  of  twenty- 
three  thousand  eight  hundred  militia,  ten  thousand  of  whom  were 
to  form  a  flying  camp. 

While  General  Washington  was  in  Philadelphia,  he  received  a 
letter  from  his  brother,  John  Augustine  Washington,  informing 
him  of  the  resolution  of  the  convention  of  Virginia,  in  relation  to 
independence.  He  replied  : 

"I  am  very  glad  to  find  that  the  Virginia  Convention  have 
passed  so  noble  a  vote,  and  with  so  much  unanimity.  Things 
have  come  to  such  a  pass  now,  as  to  convince  us,  that  we  have 
nothing  more  to  expect  from  the  justice  of  Great  Britain;  also,  that 
she  is  capable  of  the  most  delusive  arts  ;  for  I  am  satisfied,  that 
no  commissioners  ever  were  designed,  except  Hessians,  and  other 
foreigners  ;  and  that  the  idea  was  only  to  deceive,  and  throw  us 
off  our  guard.  The  first  has  been  too  effectually  accomplished,  as 
many  members  of  Congress,  in  short,  the  representation  of  whole 
provinces,  are  still  feeding  themselves  upon  the  dainty  food  of  re 
conciliation  ;  and  though  they  will  not  allow  that  the  expectation 
of  it  has  any  influence  upon  their  judgment,  with  respect  to  their 


232  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

preparations  for  defence,  it  is  but  too  obvious  that  it  has  an  opera 
tion  on  every  part  of  their  conduct,  and  is  a  clog  to  their  proceed 
ings.  It  is  not  in  the  nature  of  things  to  be  otherwise ;  for  no 
man  that  entertains  a  hope  of  seeing  this  dispute  speedily  and 
equitably  adjusted  by  commissioners,  will  go  to* the  same  expense, 
and  run  the  same  hazard,  to  prepare  for  the  worst  event,  as  he  who 
believes  that  he  must  conquer,  or  submit  to  unconditional  terms, 
and  the  concomitants,  such  as  confiscation,  hanging,  and  the 
like." 

He  returned  to  New  York  on  the  7th  of  June,  and  lost  no  time 
in  hastening  his  preparations  to  receive  the  enemy,  whose  fleet 
was  daily  expected. 

On  the  very  day  of  Washington's  arrival  in  New  York,  Richard 
Henry  Lee,  one  of  the  representatives  of  Virginia,  in  the  Congress, 
submitted  a  resolution  for  dissolving  all  connection  with  Great 
Britain,  and  constituting  the  united  colonies  free  and  independent 
states.  This  resolution  was  referred  to  a  committee  of  the  whole, 
but,  it  appearing  that  six  of  the  thirteen  colonies  were  not  yet  pre 
pared  to  close  the  door  of  reconciliation  with  the  mother  country, 
on  the  10th  of  June  it  was  laid  on  the  table  until  the  1st  of  July, 
when  the  discussion  was  resumed.  On  the  evening  of  that  day, 
the  question  being  put  in  the  committee,  it  was  decided  in  the 
affirmative,  by  the  votes  of  nine  colonies ;  the  representatives  of 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  and  South  Carolina,  acting 
under  instructions  from  provincial  conventions,  did  not  feel  them 
selves  at  liberty  to  concur,  though  the  delegates,  as  individuals, 
were  mostly  in  favour  of  the  measure.  At  the  request  of  Mr.  Rut- 
ledge,  one  of  the  representatives  from  South  Carolina,  the  report  of 
the  committee  was  postponed  one  day,  and  in  that  interval,  instruc 
tions  arrived  from  conventions  in  Pennsylvania  and  South  Carolina, 
and  the  arrival  of  other  members  from  New  York  and  Delaware, 
gave  majorities  in  those  two  colonies  in  favour  of  the  resolution. 
In  the  mean  time,  a  committee,  consisting  of  Thomas  Jefferson, 
John  Adams,  Benjamin  Franklin,  Roger  Sherman,  and  R.  R.  Liv 
ingston,  had  been  appointed  to  draw  up  a  formal  declaration  of 
independence.  A  draft  was  prepared  by  Thomas  Jefferson,  which, 
without  any  amendment  by  the  committee,  was  reported  to  Con 
gress  on  the  3d  of  July.  On  the  4th,  this  declaration,  after  being 
slightly  modified,  received  the  sanction  of  Congress,  by  the  unani 
mous  vote  of  the  colonies  ;  and  it  was  unanimously  declared  that 
"  the  united  colonies  were,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  in 
dependent  states." 


THE    DECLARATION    OF    INDEPENDENCE.       233 

This  declaration  was  ordered  to  be  engrossed,  and  on  the  2d  of 
August,  it  was  signed  by  every  member  then  present.  Copies  had, 
in  the  mean  time,  been  sent  to  all  the  states,  and  one  was  sent  to 
Washington,  to  be  proclaimed  at  the  head  of  the  army.  The  news 
of  independence  was  everywhere  received  with  demonstrations  of 

joy- 

"  This  measure  entirely  altered  the  character  of  the  contest,  and 
gave  a  clear  and  definite  view  of  the  point  at  issue  between  the 
contending  parties.  We  no  longer  see  colonists  complaining  and 
petitioning  with  arms  in  their  hands,  and  vigorously  resisting  an 
authority  which  they  did  not  disavow ;  but  a  people  asserting 
their  independence,  and  repelling  the  aggressions  of  an  invading 
foe."* 

On  receiving  intelligence  of  this  important  declaration,  General 
Washington  wrote  as  follows,  to  the  President  of  Congress  : 

"  I  perceive  that  Congress  has  been  employed  in  deliberating  on 
measures  of  the  most  interesting  nature.  It  is  certain  that  it  is  not 
with  us  to  determine,  in  many  instances,  what  consequences  will 
flow  from  our  counsels  ;  but  yet,  it  behooves  us  to  adopt  such,  as, 
under  the  smiles  of  a  gracious  Providence,  will  be  most  likely  to 
promote  our  happiness.  I  trust  the  late  decisive  part  they  have 
taken  is  calculated  for  that  end,  and  will  secure  to  us  that  freedom 
and  those  privileges,  which  have  been  and  are  refused  to  us,  con 
trary  to  the  voice  of  nature  and  the  British  constitution.  Agree 
ably  to  the  request  of  Congress,  I  caused  the  Declaration  to  be  pro 
claimed  before  all  the  army  under  my  immediate  command  ;  and 
have  the  pleasure  to  inform  them,  that  the  measure  seemed  to  have 
their  most  hearty  assent ;  the  expressions  and  behaviour,  both  of 
officers  and  men,  testifying  their  warmest  approbation  of  it.  I 
have  transmitted  a  copy  to  General  Ward,  at  Boston,  requesting 
him  to  have  it  proclaimed  to  the  continental  troops  in  that  depart 
ment." 

Before  this,  the  British  army  had  made  its  appearance  off  New 
York.  The  abrupt  departure  of  General  Howe  from  Boston  had 
considerably  deranged  his  plans,  as  all  the  supplies  were  directed 
to  that  city,  and  some,  consequently,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Americans.  After  waiting  two  months  at  Halifax,  in  expectation 
of  the  arrival  of  reinforcements  from  England,  General  Howe 
sailed  with  the  force  he  had  previously  commanded  in  Boston  ; 
and  directing  his  course  towards  New  York,  arrived  on  the  25th 
*  Western  World,  vol.  i.  188. 

30  u2 


234  LIFE    OF   WASHINGTON. 

of  June,  off  Sandy  Hook,  and,  on  the  3d  of  July,  disembarked  his 
troops  on  Staten  Island.  Admiral  Howe,  to  whom  the  command 
of  the  fleet  had  been  intrusted,  touched  at  Halifax  soon  after  the 
departure  of  his  brother,  the  general,  and,  without  dropping  an 
chor,  followed,  and  joined  him  at  Staten  Islatid,  on  the  12th  of 
July.  One  month  afterwards,  General  Clinton  arrived  with  the 
troops  brought  back  from  the  expedition  against  Charleston, 
South  Carolina  ;  and  about  the  same  time  Commodore  Hotham 
also  appeared  with  the  reinforcement  under  his  escort ;  so  that,  at 
the  middle  of  August,  the  invading  army  amounted  to  about 
twenty-four  thousand  men. 

Admiral  Howe  had  brought  out  with  him  letters-patent  from  the 
king,  constituting  him,  with  his  brother,  joint  commissioners  for 
effecting  a  reunion  between  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies.  Ac 
cordingly,  his  first  act  was  to  send  ashore  to  Amboy,  under  the 
protection  of  a  flag,  a  circular  letter  addressed  to  the  several  late 
governors  of  the  colonies,  announcing  his  pacific  powers,  and 
requesting  them  to  publish  the  declaration  or  proclamation  which 
accompanied  the  letters.  He  promised  pardon  to  all  who  had 
lately  deviated  from  their  allegiance,  on  condition  that  they  speedily 
returned  to  their  duty  ;  and  in  case  of  their  compliance  encouraged 
them  to  hope  for  future  marks  of  favour  from  their  sovereign.  In 
his  declaration  he  observed,  "  that  the  commissioners  were  author 
ized  in  his  majesty's  name,  to  declare  any  province,  colony,  county, 
district,  or  town,  to  be  at  peace  with  his  majesty ;  and  that  due 
consideration  should  be  had  to  the  meritorious  services  of  any  who 
should  aid  or  assist  in  restoring  the  public  tranquillity  ;  that  their 
dutiful  representations  should  be  received,  pardons  granted,  and 
suitable  encouragement  to  such  as  would  promote  the  measures  of 
legal  government  and  peace,  in  pursuance  of  his  majesty's  most 
gracious  purpose." 

A  letter  containing  this  declaration,  addressed  to  Governor 
Franklin  of  New  Jersey,  was  intercepted  by  General  Mercer  and 
forwarded  to  General  Washington,  and  by  him  transmitted  to 
Congress.  Washington's  opinion  of  them  may  be  gleaned  from 
his  letter  to  the  President  of  Congress,  dated  July  22,  1776.  He 
there  says  :  "When  the  letter  and  declaration  from  Lord  Howe  to 
Mr.  Franklin  and  the  other  late  governors  come  to  be  published,  I 
should  suppose  the  warmest  advocates  for  dependence  on  the 
British  crown  must  be  silent,  and  be  convinced  beyond  all  possi 
bility  of  doubt,  that  all  that  has  been  said  about  the  commissioners 
was  illusory,  and  calculated  expressly  to  deceive  and  put  off  their 


NEGOTIATIONS.  235 

guard,  not  only  the  good  people  of  our  own  country,  but  those  of 
the  English  nation  that  were  averse  to  the  proceedings  of  the  king 
and  ministry.  Hence  we  see  the  cause  why  a  specification  of  their 
powers  was  not  given  to  the  mayor  and  city  of  London,  on  their 
address  requesting  it.  That  would  have  been  dangerous,  because 
it  would  then  have  been  manifest  that  the  line  of  conduct  they  were 
to  pursue  would  be  totally  variant  from  that  which  they  had  indus 
triously  propagated,  and  amused  the  public  with.  The  uniting  of 
the  civil  and  the  military  offices  in  the  same  persons,  too,  must  be 
conclusive  to  every  thinking  person  that  there  is  to  be  but  little 
negotiation  of  the  civil  kind." 

Congress  resolved  that  these  papers  should  «  be  published  in  the 
several  gazettes,  that  the  good  people  of  the  United  States  might 
be  informed  of  what  nature  were  the  commissioners,  and  what  the 
terms,  with  the  expectation  of  which  the  insidious  court  of  Britain 
had  sought  to  amuse  and  disarm  them  ;  and  that  the  few  who  still 
remained  suspended  by  a  hope,  founded  either  in  the  justice  or 
moderation  of  their  late  king,  might  now  at  length  be  convinced, 
that  the  valour  alone  of  their  country  is  to  save  its  liberties." 

On  the  14th  of  July,  the  same  day  on  which  Admiral  Howe 
attempted  to  circulate  his  proclamation,  he  sent,  with  a  flag,  a  letter 
directed  "  To  George  Washington,  Esq.,"  which  the  general  refused 
to  receive,  it  not  being  addressed  to  him  with  the  title  and  in  the 
form  due  to  the  rank  which  he  held  under  the  United  States.  This 
course  was  approved  by  Congress,  in  a  resolution  passed  three  days 
afterwards,  by  which  they  directed  "that  no  letter  or  message  be 
received  on  any  occasion  whatsoever  from  the  enemy,  by  the  com- 
mander-in-chief,  or  others,  the  commanders  of  the  American  army, 
but  such  as  should  be  directed  to  them  in  the  characters  they 
respectively  sustain." 

The  commissioners  not  wishing  to  recognise  any  officer  created 
by  the  existing  powers  in  America,  and  yet  having  strong  reasons 
inducing  them  to  open  a  negotiation  with  General  Washington, 
were  at  first  unable  to  determine  upon  any  measure  likely  to  remove 
this  preliminary  obstacle.  At  length,  Colonel  Patterson,  adjutant- 
general  of  the  British  army,  was  sent  to  Newr  York,  by  General 
Howe,  with  a  letter  addressed  "  To  George  Washington,  #c.,  #c., 
$*c."  He  was  received  with  great  politeness,  and  the  usual  cere 
mony  of  blindfolding,  in  passing  through  the  fortifications,  was  dis 
pensed  with  in  his  favour.  He  was  introduced  to  the  commander- 
in-chief,  whom  he  addressed  by  the  title  of  "excellency;"  and, 
after  the  usual  compliments,  entered  upon  the  business,  by  regretting 


236  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

in  the  name  of  his  principals  the  difficulties  which  had  arisen  with 
respect  to  addressing  the  letters,  and  declaring  their  high  esteem 
for  his  person  and  character,  and  that  they  did  not  mean  to  dero 
gate  from  the  respect  due  to  his  rank,  and  thus  it  was  hoped  that 
the  et  ceteras  would  remove  the  impediments  *to  their  correspond 
ence.  The  general  replied,  that  a  letter  directed  to  any  person  in 
a  public  character  should  have  some  description  or  indication  of  it, 
otherwise  it  would  appear  a  mere  private  letter ;  that  it  was  true 
the  et  ceteras  implied  every  thing,  but  they  also  implied  any  thing, 
and  that  he  should  absolutely  decline  any  letter  directed  to  him  as 
a  private  person,  when  it  related  to  his  public  station.  Colonel 
Patterson  then  said  that  General  Howe  would  not  urge  his  delicacy 
farther,  and  repeated  his  assertions  that  no  failure  of  respect  wras 
intended. 

A  long  conference  ensued  on  the  subject  of  prisoners,  and  the 
complaints  which  were  made  on  both  sides,  particularly  by  the 
Congress,  relative  to  the  treatment  they  received.  The  adjutant 
then  observed  that  the  commissioners  were  armed  with  great  powers, 
that  they  would  derive  the  greatest  pleasure  from  effecting  an 
accommodation,  and  that  he  (Colonel  Patterson)  wished  to  have 
that  visit  considered  as  making  the  first  advance  towards  that  desi 
rable  object.  He  received  for  answer,  among  other  things,  that,  by 
what  had  appeared,  their  powers  were  only  to  grant,  pardons  ;  that 
those  who  had  committed  no  fault  wanted  no  pardons  ;  and  that 
the  Americans  were  only  defending  \vhat  they  considered  their 
indisputable  rights.  Colonel  Patterson  was  soon  after  introduced 
to  the  general  officers,  and  refusing  to  stay  and  partake  of  some 
refreshments  provided  for  him,  he  was  conducted  to  his  boat,  which 
waited  for  him.  The  general  had  received  him  with  honour  and 
respect,  and  he  had  behaved  with  the  greatest  politeness  and  atten 
tion  during  the  whole  business,  and  expressed  strong  acknowledg 
ments  that  the  usual  ceremony  of  binding  his  eyes  had  been  dis 
pensed  with. 

The  substance  of  this  interview  was  transmitted  to  Congress  and 
published  by  their  order. 

The  disparity  existing  between  the  numbers  of  the  British  and 
American  forces  at  the  siege  of  Boston,  still  existed,  though  in  a 
reversed  condition.  General  Howe,  in  the  month  of  August,  com 
manded  a  force  of  twenty-four  thousand  men,  well  disciplined,  and 
abundantly  supplied  with  every  thing  necessary  to  success  in  the 
field ;  he  daily  expected  to  be  reinforced  by  another  detachment  ot 


THE  ARMY  AT  NEW  YORK.         237 

German  troops,  and  he  was  supported  by  a  fleet  well  fitted  to  its 
destined  service. 

The  state  of  General  Washington's  forces  may  be  best  inferred 
from  the  following  letter  from  him  to  the  president  of  Congress, 
dated  August  8.  "In  my  letter  of  the  5th,  I  enclosed  a  general 
return  of  the  army  under  my  immediate  command,  but  I  imagine 
the  following  statement  will  give  Congress  a  more  perfect  idea? 
though  not  a  more  agreeable  one,  of  our  situation  : — For  the  several 
posts  on  New  York,  Long,  and  Governor's  Islands,  and  Paulus 
Hook,  we  have,  fit  for  duty,  ten  thousand  five  hundred  and  fourteen; 
sick  present,  three  thousand  and  thirty-nine ;  sick  absent,  six  hun 
dred  and  twenty-nine ;  on  command,  two  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
forty-six;  on  furlough,  ninety-seven:  total,  seventeen  thousand  two 
hundred  and  twenty-five.  In  addition  to  these,  we  are  only  certain 
of  Colonel  Smallwood's  battalion  in  case  of  an  immediate  attack. 
Our  posts,  too,  are  much  divided,  having  waters  between  many  of 
them,  and  some  distant  from  others  many  miles.  These  circum 
stances,  sufficiently  distressing  of  themselves,  are  much  aggravated 
by  the  sickness  that  prevails  throughout  the  army.  Every  day  more 
or  less  are  taken  down,  so  that  the  proportion  of  men  that  may  come 
in  cannot  be  considered  as  a  real  and  serviceable  augmentation  on 
the  whole.  These  things  are  melancholy,  but  they  are  nevertheless 
true ;  I  hope  for  better.  Under  every  disadvantage  my  utmost  exer 
tions  shall  be  employed  to  bring  about  the  great  end  we  have  in 
viewr,  and  so  far  as  I  can  judge  from  the  professions  and  apparent 
disposition  of  my  troops,  I  shall  have  their  support.  The  superi 
ority  of  the  enemy,  and  the  expected  attack,  do  not  seem  to  have 
repressed  their  spirits  ;  these  considerations  lead  me  to  think,  that 
though  the  appeal  may  not  terminate  so  happily  in  our  favour  as  I 
could  wish,  yet  they  will  not  succeed  in  their  views  without  consider 
able  loss.  Any  advantage  they  may  get,  I  trust  will  cost  them  dear." 

Soon  after  the  date  of  this  letter,  the  American  army  was  rein 
forced  by  the  arrival  of  Smallwood's  battalion,  two  regiments  from 
Pennsylvania,  and  a  number  of  militia,  which  increased  it  to 
twenty-seven  thousand,  of  whom  but  three-fourths  were  fit  for  duty. 
A  part  of  these  forces  were  stationed  on  Long  Island,  and,  during 
the  illness  of  Major-general  Greene,  was  commanded  by  Major- 
general  Sullivan ;  the  remainder  occupied  New  York,  Governor's 
Island,  and  Paulus  Hook. 

From  the  time  of  the  first  appearance  of  the  British  forces,  the 
Americans  were  in  daily  expectation  of  an  attack.  General 
Washington  wras  therefore  strenuous  in  preparing  his  troops  for 


238  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

action.  He  was  untiring  in  his  efforts  to  improve  their  discipline,  to 
inspire  them  with  some  of  his  own  enthusiasm,  and  love  of  coun 
try,  and  high-toned  indignation  against  the  invaders  of  the  soil. 
Soon  after  the  landing  of  the  enemy  on  Staten  Jsland,  he  addressed 
them  in  general  orders,  as  follows  : 

«  The  time  is  now  near  at  hand  which  must  probably  determine 
whether  Americans  are  to  be  free  men  or  slaves  ;  whether  they  are 
to  have  any  property  they  can  call  their  own  ;  whether  their  houses 
and  farms  are  to  be  pillaged  and  destroyed,  and  themselves  con 
signed  to  a  state  of  wretchedness,  from  which  no  human  efforts 
will  deliver  them.  The  fate  of  unborn  millions  will  now  depend, 
under  God,  on  the  courage  and  conduct  of  this  army.  Our  cruel 
and  unrelenting  enemy  leaves  us  only  the  choice  of  a  brave  resist 
ance,  or  the  most  abject  submission.  We  have  therefore  to  resolve 
to  conquer,  or  to  die.  Our  own,  our  country's  honour,  calls  upon 
us  for  a  vigorous  and  manly  exertion  ;  and  if  we  now  shamefully 
fail,  we  shall  become  infamous  to  the  whole  world.  Let  us  then 
rely  on  the  goodness  of  our  cause,  and  the  aid  of  the  Supreme  Be 
ing,  in  whose  hands  victory  is,  to  animate  and  encourage  us  to 
great  and  noble  actions.  The  eyes  of  all  our  countrymen  are  now 
upon  us,  and  we  shall  have  their  blessings  and  praises,  if  happily 
we  are  the  instruments  of  saving  them  from  the  tyranny  meditated 
against  them.  Let  us,  therefore,  animate  and  encourage  each 
other,  and  show  the  whole  world  that  a  freeman  contending  for 
liberty,  on  his  own  ground,  is  superior  to  any  slavish  mercenary 
on  earth.  The  general  recommends  to  the  officers  great  coolness 
in  time  of  action,  and  to  the  soldiers,  a  strict  attention  and  obedi 
ence,  with  a  becoming  firmness  and  spirit.  Any  officer,  or  sol 
dier,  or  any  particular  corps  distinguishing  itself  by  any  acts  of 
bravery  and  courage,  will  assuredly  meet  with  notice  and  rewards  ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  those  who  behave  ill,  will  as  certainly  be 
exposed  and  punished  ;  the  general  being  resolved,  as  well  for  the 
honour  and  safety  of  the  country,  as  of  the  army,  to  show  no 
favour  to  such  as  refuse  or  neglect  to  do  their  duty  at  so  important 
a  crisis."* 

While  the  general  was  thus  actively  employed  in  organizing  and 
disciplining  his  army,  arid  preparing  them  to  meet  an  enemy 
superior  both  in  numbers  and  appointment,  he  did  not  forget  or 
neglect  his  duties  as  a  Christian ;  he  did  not  neglect  to  admonish 
his  followers  against  the  commission  of  sinful  acts,  nor  to  encou- 

*  Orderly  Book,  July  2,  1776. 


WASHINGTON'S    OPINION    OF    SWEARING.      239 

rage  them,  by  every  means  in  his  power,  to  follow  the  path  of 
virtue.  He  was  unceasing  in  efforts  to  induce  Congress  to  order  the 
appointment  of  a  chaplain  to  each  regiment.  His  wishes  in  this 
respect  were  complied  with  in  the  beginning  of  July.  He  con 
cludes  his  orders,  communicating  this  fact,  by  saying,  that  »  the 
blessing  and  protection  of  Heaven  are  at  all  times  necessary,  but 
especially  so  in  times  of  public  distress  and  danger.  The  general 
hopes  and  trusts,  that  every  officer  and  man  will  endeavour  so  to  live 
and  act,  as  becomes  a  Christian  soldier,  defending  the  dearest 
rights  and  liberties  of  his  country." 

In  an  order  issued  on  the  3d  of  August,  he  says  he  "  is  sorry  to 
be  informed  that  the  foolish  and  wicked  practice  of  profane  cursing 
and  swearing,  a  vice  heretofore  little  known  in  an  American  army, 
is  growing  into  fashion ;  he  hopes  the  officers  will,  by  example  as 
well  as  influence,  endeavour  to  check  it,  and  that  both  they  and  the 
men  will  reflect,  that  we  can  have  little  hope  of  the  blessing  of  Hea 
ven  on  our  arms,  if  we_insult  it  by  our  impiety  and  folly ;  added 
to  this,  it  is  a  vice  so  mean  and  low,  without  any  temptation,  that 
every  man  of  sense  and  character  detests  and  despises  it." 

In  the  midst  of  his  preparations  for  the  approaching  conflict, 
the  general  received  intelligence,  through  Congress,  of  the  brilliant 
successes  of  the  American  arms  in  South  Carolina ;  these  he 
promptly  announced,  in  his  orders,  for  the  encouragement  of  his 
army. 

"  This  glorious  example  of  our  troops,"  he  said,  "  under  the 
like  circumstances  with  ourselves,  the  general  hopes,  will  animate 
every  officer  and  soldier  to  imitate,  and  even  out-do  them,  when 
the  enemy  shall  make  the  same  attempt  on  us.  With  such  a 
bright  example  before  us,  of  what  can  be  done  by  brave  and  spi 
rited  men  fighting  in  defence  of  their  country,  we  shall  be  loaded 
with  a  double  share  of  infamy  if  we  do  not  acquit  ourselves  with 
courage,  and  manifest  a  determined  resolution  to  conquer  or  die. 
With  this  hope  and  confidence,  the  general  most  earnestly  exhorts 
every  officer  and  soldier  to  pay  the  utmost  attention  to  his  arms 
and  his  health ;  to  have  the  former  in  the  best  order  for  action, 
and  by  cleanliness  and  care  to  preserve  the  latter ;  to  be  exact  in 
discipline,  obedient  to  superiors,  and  vigilant  on  duty.  With  such 
preparation,  and  a  suitable  spirit,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  but,  by 
the  blessing  of  Heaven,  we  shall  repel  our  cruel  invaders,  pre 
serve  our  country,  and  gain  the  greatest  honour." 

When  all  the  reinforcements  of  the  enemy  had  arrived,  General 


240  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

Washington,  in  expectation  of  an  immediate  attack,  and  in  order 
to  inspire  them  with  his  own  feelings,  again  addressed  his  army, 
and  repeateo^  his  earnest  request  that  every  officer  and  soldier 
should  have  his  arms  and  ammunition  in  good  order ;  keep  within 
his  quarters  and  encampments  as  far  as  possible;  be  ready  for 
action  at  a  moment's  call ;  and  when  called  to  it,  to  remember 
that  liberty,  property,  life,  and  honour,  would  all  be  at  stake ; 
that  upon  their  courage  and  conduct  rested  the  hopes  of  their 
bleeding  and  insulted  country;  that  their  wives,  children,  and 
parents,  expected  safety  from  them  alone  ;  and  that  there  was 
every  reason  to  believe,  that  Heaven  would  crown  with  success 
a  cause  so  just.  He  added, — «  The  enemy  will  endeavour  to  in 
timidate  by  show  and  appearance,  but  remember  they  have  been 
repulsed  on  various  occasions  by  a  few  brave  Americans.  Their 
cause  is  bad  ;  their  men  are  conscious  of  it,  and  if  opposed  with 
firmness  and  coolness  on  their  first  onset,  with  our  advantage  of 
works,  and  knowledge  of  the  ground,  the  victory  is  most  assur 
edly  ours.  Every  good  soldier  will  be  silent  and  attentive,  wait 
for  orders,  and  reserve  his  fire  until  he  is  sure  of  doing  execution : 
of  this  the  officers  are  to  be  particularly  careful." 

The  possession  of  Long  Island  is  necessary  to  the  defence  of 
New  York.  It  had  been  determined  in  a  council  of  war,  to  for 
tify  a  camp  at  Brooklyn,  opposite  New  York,  and  stretching  across 
that  end  of  Long  Island,  from  the  East  River  to  Gowan's  Cove. 
The  rear  of  this  encampment  was  defended  by  batteries  on  Red 
Hook  and  Governor's  Island,  and  by  works  on  the  East  River, 
which  secured  the  communication  with  New  York.  In  front  of 
the  encampment  ran  a  range  of  hills,  from  east  to  west,  across  the 
island.  These  were  covered  with  wood,  and  were  steep,  but 
could  anywhere  be  ascended  by  infantry.  Over  this  range  were 
three  passes,  leading  by  three  roads  to  Brooklyn  Ferry. 

A  strong  detachment  of  the  American  army  was  posted  on  Long 
Island,  under  the  command  of  General  Greene,  who  made  himself 
intimately  acquainted  with  the  passes  on  the  hills,  but  unfortu 
nately  becoming  sick,  General  Sullivan  succeeded  him  in  the 
command,  only  a  few  days  before  active  operations  commenced. 
The  main  body  of  the  American  army  remained  on  York  Island. 
A  flying  camp,  composed  of  militia,  was  formed  at  Amboy,  to  pre 
vent  the  depredations  of  the  enemy  in  New  Jersey ;  and  a  force 
was  stationed  near  New  Rochelle,  and  at  East  and  West  Chester, 
on  the  Sound,  to  check  the  progress  of  the  enemy,  should  they 


THE   ARMIES    AT    LONG    ISLAND.  241 

attempt  to  land  above  Kingsbridge,  and  enclose  the  Americans  on 
York  Island.  The  head-quarters  of  General  Washington  were  in 
the  city,  but  he  was  daily  over  at  Brooklyn,  to  inspect  the  state  of 
that  camp,  and  to  make  the  best  arrangements  circumstances 
would  admit.  An  immediate  attack  being  expected  on  Long 
Island,  General  Sullivan  was  reinforced,  and  directed  carefully  to 
watch  the  passes. 

On  the  22d  of  August,  the  main  body  of  the  British  troops, 
with  a  large  detachment  of  Germans,  landed  under  cover  of  the 
ships,  on  the  south-western  extremity  of  Long  Island.  A  regi 
ment  of  militia,  stationed  on  the  coast,  retreated  before  them  to 
the  heights.  A  large  reinforcement  was  sent  to  the  camp  at 
Brooklyn,  and  the  command  of  the  post  given  to  General  Putnam, 
who  was  particularly  charged  to  guard  the  woods,  and  to  hold 
himself  constantly  prepared  to  meet  the  assault  of  the  enemy. 

Confident  that  an  engagement  must  soon  take  place,  General 
Washington  made  still  another  effort  to  inspire  his  troops  with  the 
most  determined  courage.  "The  enemy,"  said  he,  on  addressing 
them,  "have  now  landed  on  Long  Island,  and  the  hour  is  fast  ap 
proaching,  on  which  the  honour  and  success  of  this  army,  and  the 
safety  of  our  bleeding  country  depend.  Remember,  officers  and 
soldiers,  that  you  are  freemen,  fighting  for  the  blessings  of  liberty, 
that  slavery  will  be  your  portion,  and  that  of  your  posterity,  if  you 
do  not  acquit  yourselves  like  men."  He  repeated  his  instructions 
respecting  their  conduct  in  action,  and  concluded  with  the  most 
animating  and  encouraging  exhortations. 

On  the  26th,  the  British,  in  three  divisions,  took  post  upon  the 
south  skirt  of  the  wood  ;  General  Grant  upon  their  left,  near  the 
coast ;  the  German  General  De  Heister  in  the  centre,  at  Flatbush  ; 
and  General  Clinton  upon  their  right,  at  Flatland.  The  range  of 
hills  only  no\v  separated  the  two  armies,  and  the  different  posts 
of  the  British  were  distant  from  the  American  camp  from  four  to 
six  miles.  Upon  their  left  a  road  to  Brooklyn  lay  along  the  coast 
to  Gowan's  Cove,  before  General  Grant's  division.  From  Flat- 
bush  a  direct  road  ran  to  the  American  camp,  in  which  the  Ger 
mans  might  proceed.  General  Clinton  might  either  unite  with 
the  Hessians,  or  take  a  more  eastern  route,  and  fall  into  the  Ja 
maica  road,  by  the  way  of  Bedford.  These  three  roads  unite 
near  Brooklyn.  On  the  pass  of  Flatbush,  the  Americans  had  flung 
up  a  small  redoubt,  mounted  it  with  artillery,  and  manned  it  with 
a  body  of  troops.  Major-general  Sullivan  continued  to  command 
31  X 


242  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

on  the  heights.  On  the  evening  of  the  26th  of  August,  General 
Clinton,  without  beat  of  drum,  marched  with  the  infantry  of  his 
division,  a  troop  of  light-horse,  and  fourteen  field-pieces,  to  gain 
the  defile  on  the  Jamaica  road.  A  few  hours  before  day  he  sur 
prised  an  American  party  stationed  there  to  give  the  alarm  of  an 
approaching  enemy,  and,  undiscovered,  seized  the  pass.  At  day 
light  he  passed  the  heights,  and  descended  into  the  plain  on  the 
side  of  Brooklyn.  Early  in  the  morning  General  De  Heister, 
at  Flatbush,  and  General  Grant,  upon  the  western  coast,  opened 
a  cannonade  upon  the  American  troops,  and  began  to  ascend  the 
hill ;  but  they  moved  very  slowly,  as  their  object  was  to  draw  the 
attention  of  the  American  commander  from  his  left,  and  give 
General  Clinton  opportunity  to  gain  the  rear  of  the  American 
troops  stationed  on  the  heights.  General  Putnam,  in  the  appre 
hension  that  the  serious  attack  would  be  made  by  De  Heister  and 
Grant,  sent  detachments  to  reinforce  General  Sullivan  and  Lord 
Sterling,  at  the  defiles  through  which  those  divisions  of  the  enemy 
were  approaching.  When  General  Clinton  had  passed  the  left 
flank  of  the  Americans  about  eight  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the 
27th,  De  Heister  and  Grant  vigorously  ascended  the  hill  ;  the 
troops  which  opposed  them  bravely  maintained  their  ground, 
until  they  learned  their  perilous  situation  from  the  British  columns, 
which  were  gaining  their  rear. 

As  soon  as  the  American  left  discovered  the  progress  of  General 
Clinton,  they  attempted  to  return  to  the  camp  at  Brooklyn,  but  their 
flight  was  stopped  by  the  front  of  the  British  column.  In  the  mean 
time  the  Hessians  pushed  forward  from  Flatbush,  and  the  troops  in 
the  American  centre,  under  the  immediate  command  of  General 
Sullivan,  having  also  discovered  that  their  flank  was  turned,  and 
that  the  enemy  was  gaining  their  rear,  in  haste  retreated  towards 
Brooklyn.  Clinton's  columns  continuing  to  advance,  intercepted 
them  ;  they  were  attacked  in  front  and  rear,  and  alternately  driven 
by  the  British  on  the  Hessians,  and  by  the  Hessians  on  the  British. 
Desperate  as  their  situation  was,  some  regiments  broke  through  the 
enemy's  lines  and  regained  the  fortified  camp. 

The  detachment  on  the  American  right,  under  Lord  Sterling, 
behaved  well,  and  maintained  a  severe  conflict  with  General  Grant 
for  six  hours  until  the  van  of  General  Clinton's  division  having 
crossed  the  whole  island,  gained  their  rear.  Lord  Sterling  per 
ceived  his  danger,  and  found  that  his  troops  could  be  saved  only 
by  an  immediate  retreat  over  a  creek  near  the  cove.  He  gave 
orders  to  this  purpose,  and  to  facilitate  their  execution,  he  in  person 


BATTLE  OF  LONG  ISLAND.         243 

attacked  Lord  Cornwallis,  who,  by  this  time  having  gained  the 
coast,  had  posted  a  small  corps  in  a  house  just  above  the  place 
where  the  American  troops  must  pass  the  creek.  The  attack  was 
bravely  made  with  four  hundred  men,  who,  in  the  opinion  of  their 
commander,  were  upon  the  point  of  dislodging  Cornwallis  ;  but  his 
lordship  being  reinforced  from  his  own  columns,  and  General  Grant 
attacking  Lord  Sterling  in  the  rear,  this  brave  band  was  overpowered 
by  numbers,  and  those  who  survived  were  compelled  to  surrender 
themselves  prisoners  of  war ;  but  this  spirited  assault  gave  oppor 
tunity  for  a  large  proportion  of  the  detachment  to  escape. 

The  loss  of  the  Americans  on  this  occasion,  compared  with  the 
number  engaged,  was  great ;  General  Washington  stated  it  at  a 
thousand  men,  but  his  returns  probably  included  only  the  regular 
regiments.  General  Howe,  in  an  official  letter,  made  the  prisoners 
amount  to  one  thousand  and  ninety-seven.  Among  these  were 
Major-general  Sullivan  and  Brigadier-generals  Sterling  and  Wood- 
hull.  The  amount  of  the  killed  was  never  with  precision  ascer 
tained.  Numbers  were  supposed  to  have  been  drowned  in  the 
qreek,  and  some  to  have  perished  in  the  mud  of  the  marsh.  The 
British  loss  acknowledged  by  General  Howe,  was  twenty-one  offi 
cers,  and  three  hundred  and  forty-six  privates,  killed,  wounded, 
and  taken.* 

General  Washington  passed  over  to  Brooklyn  in  the  heat  of  the 
action  ;  but  unable  to  rescue  his  men  from  their  perilous  situation, 
was  constrained  to  be  the  inactive  spectator  of  ihe  slaughter  of  his 
best  troops.  On  this  occasion,  he  is  said  for  a  moment  to  have 
lost  his  customary  equanimity,  and  to  have  burst  into  the  most  vio 
lent  exclamations  of  grief.  He  was  now  sensible  of  the  imminent 
peril  which  would  follow  from  his  awaiting  the  regular  approaches 
of  the  enemy.  His  troops  were  without  tents,  many  were  suffering 
from  sickness,  and  all  from  fatigue.  Moreover,  the  movements  of 
the  British  fleet  indicated  an  intention  to  force  a  passage  into  the 
East  River,  and  thus  cut  off  the  retreat  of  the  troops  into  New  York. 
By  this  measure  the  whole  army  would,  doubtless,  have  been  lost. 
The  general,  therefore,  determined  on  an  immediate  removal  of  the 
army  from  Long  Island  to  New  York.  This  seemed,  at  first  sight, 
to  be  utterly  impracticable.  The  East  River,  nearly  a  mile  broad, 
and  sufficiently  deep  to  float  vessels  of  war,  was  in  the  rear ;  the 
British  had  a  strong  fleet  at  hand ;  and  the  victorious  enemy  was  in 
front.  In  the  evening  of  the  27th,  the  British  encamped  in  front  of 
the  American  works ;  and  on  the  morning  of  the  28th  they  brokt 

*  Marshall.     Bancroft.     Edmonds. 


244  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

ground  about  six  hundred  yards  from  the  American  redoubt  on  the 
right.  In  the  face  of  all  these  difficulties,  the  Americans  with  their 
ammunition,  artillery,  provisions,  horses,  and  carriages,  on  the 
evening  of  the  29th  and  morning  of  the  30th  of  August,  by  exer 
tions  which  any  but  Washington  would  have  deemed  impossible, 
passed  over  from  Brooklyn  to  New  York  without  the  loss  of  a  man. 
This  retreat  was  conducted  with  such  perfect  silence  and  order, 
that  although  the  sound  of  the  intrenching  tools  of  the  British  wras 
distinctly  heard,  their  escape,  favoured  by  a  heavy  mist,  was  unper- 
ceived  until  their  rear  was  out  of  reach  of  the  British  fire. 

This  event  was  announced  by  General  Washington  to  the  Presi 
dent  of  Congress  on  the  day  after  the  evacuation  of  Long  Island,  by 
the  following  letter: 

"New  York,  August  31st,  1776. 

"Sin, — Inclination  as  well  as  duty  would  have  induced  me  to 
give  Congress  the  earliest  information  of  my  removal  and  that  of  the 
troops,  from  Long  Island  and  its  dependencies  to  this  city,  the 
night  before  last ;  but  the  extreme  fatigue  which  myself  and  family 
have  undergone,  as  much  from  the  weather  since,  as  from  the 
engagement  on  the  27th,  rendered  me  and  them  entirely  unfit  to 
take  pen  in  hand.  Since  Monday  scarce  any  of  us  have  been  out 
of  the  lines  till  our  passage  across  the  East  River  was  effected  yes 
terday  morning;  and  for  forty-eight  hours  preceding  that,  I  had 
hardly  been  off  my  horse,  and  never  closed  my  eyes ;  so  that  I  was 
quite  unfit  to  write  or  dictate  till  this  morning. 

"Our  retreat  was  made  without  any  loss  of  men  or  ammunition, 
and  in  better  order  than  I  expected  from  troops  in  the  situation 
ours  were.  We  brought  off  all  our  cannon  and  stores,  except  a  few 
heavy  pieces,  which,  in  the  condition  the  earth  was,  by  a  long 
continued  rain,  we  found  upon  trial  impracticable  ;  the  wheels  of 
the  carriages  sinking  up  to  the  hobs  rendered  it  impossible  for  our 
whole  force  to  drag  them.  We  left  but  little  provisions  on  the 
island,  except  some  cattle  which  had  been  driven  within  our  lines, 
and  which,  after  many  attempts  to  force  across  the  water,  WTC  found 
it  impossible  to  effect,  circumstanced  as  we  were.  I  have  enclosed 
a  copy  of  the  council-of-war  held  previous  to  the  retreat,  to  which 
I  beg  leave  to  refer  Congress  for  the  reasons,  or  many  of  them, 
that  led  to  the  adoption  of  that  measure.  Yesterday  evening  and 
last  night  a  party  of  our  men  were  employed  in  bringing  our  stores, 
cannon,  and  tents  from  Governor's  Island,  which  they  nearly  com 
pleted.  Some  of  the  heavy  cannon  remain  there  still,  but  I  expect 
they  will  be  got  away  to-day. 


THE    RETREAT    FROM    LONG    ISLAND.  245 

"In  the  engagement  on  the  27th,  Generals  Sullivan  and  Sterling 
were  made  prisoners.  The  former  has  been  permitted  on  his 
parole  to  return  for  a  little  time.  From  Lord  Sterling  I  had  a  letter 
by  General  Sullivan,  a  copy  of  which  I  have  the  honour  to  trans 
mit,  that  contains  his  information  of  the  engagement  with  his  bri 
gade.  It  is  not  so  full  and  certain  as  I  could  wish ;  he  was  hurried, 
most  probably,  as  his  letter  was  unfinished  ;  nor  have  I  yet  been 
able  to  obtain  an  exact  account  of  our  loss;  we  suppose  it  from  seven 
hundred  to  a  thousand  killed  and  taken.*  General  Sullivan  says 
Lord  Howe  is  extremely  desirous  of  seeing  some  of  the  members 
of  Congress  ;  for  which  purpose  he  was  allowed  to  come  out  and  to 
communicate  to  them  what  has  passed  between  him  and  his  lord 
ship.  I  have  consented  to  his  going  to  Philadelphia,  as  I  do  not 
mean  or  conceive  it  right  to  withhold  or  prevent  him  from  giving 
such  information  as  he  possesses  in  this  instance.  I  am  much 
hurried  and  engaged  in  arranging  and  making  new  dispositions  of 
our  forces  ;  the  movements  of  the  enemy  requiring  them  to  be  im 
mediately  had  ;  and  therefore  I  have  only  time  to  add  that  I  am, 
with  my  best  regards  to  Congress,  &c., 

" GEORGE  WASHINGTON." 

The  retreat  of  General  Washington  from  Long  Island  to  New 
York  was  confessed,  by  the  enemy  themselves,  to  be  a  master 
stroke  of  military  skill,  and  to  reflect  the  highest  honour  upon  the 
man  by  whom  it  was  planned  and  successfully  executed.  The  de 
feat  which  occasioned  it,  however,  though  gained  by  immensely 
superior  numbers,  with  all  the  advantages  derived  from  an  almost 
perfect  state  of  discipline,  threw  a  gloomy  shade  upon  the  affairs 
of  America.  The  British  were  left  in  undisputed  possession  of 
Long  Island.  Their  future  operations  were  involved  in  uncer 
tainty.  With  the  largest  fleet  that  had  ever  appeared  on  the  coast 
of  America,  they  could  transfer  the  seat  of  war  to  any  spot  which 
they  might  deem  advisable.  To  gain  exact  knowledge  of  their 
strength,  and  future  movements,  was  of  high  importance.  For 
this  purpose,  General  Washington  applied  to  Colonel  Knowlton, 
who  commanded  a  regiment  of  light-infantry,  in  the  van  of  the 
American  army,  and  desired  him  to  adopt  some  mode  of  gaining 
the  necessary  information.  Colonel  Knowlton  communicated  this 
request  to  Captain  Nathan  Hale,  of  Connecticut,  who  was  then 
serving  in  his  regiment.  This  young  officer,  animated  by  a  sense 

*  This  is  exclusive  of  General  Woodhull  and  the  militia  under  him,  about  two 
hundred,  who  were  not  in  the  action,  but  were  captured  afterwards  at  Jamaica. 

x2 


246  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

of  duty,  a  hope  that  he  might,  in  this  way,  be  useful  to  his  country, 
and  a  fixed  opinion,  that  every  kind  of  service  necessary  to  the 
public  good  became  honourable  by  being  necessary,  at  once 
offered  himself  a  volunteer  for  this  hazardous,  enterprise.  He 
passed,  in  the  disguise  of  a  schoolmaster,  to  Long  Island,  exam 
ined  every  part  of  the  British  army,  and  obtained  the  best  possible 
information  respecting  their  position  and  future  operations.  In  his 
attempt  to  return,  he  was  met  by  a  tory  in  the  British  service, 
recognised,  apprehended,  and  carried  before  General  Howe.  The 
proof  of  his  object  was  so  clear,  that  he  frankly  acknowledged  who 
he  was,  and  what  his  designs  were,  in  visiting  the  British  camp. 
The  British  general,  without  a  trial,  and  without  even  the  form  of 
a  court-martial,  doomed  him  to  be  executed  the  next  morning. 
This  sentence  was  carried  into  execution  in  the  most  unfeeling 
mariner.  A  clergyman,  whose  attendance  he  desired,  was  refused 
him  ;  a  Bible,  for  a  moment's  devotion,  was  not  procured,  though 
he  requested  it.  Letters,  which,  on  the  morning  of  his  execution, 
he  wrote  to  his  mother  and  sister,  were  destroyed ;  and  this  very 
extraordinary  reason  was  given  by  the  provost- m arti al :  "that  the 
rebels  should  not  know  that  they  had  a  man  in  their  army  who 
could  die  with  so  much  firmness."  Unknown  to  all  around  him, 
without  a  single  friend  to  offer  him  the  least  consolation,  as  amia 
ble  and  as  worthy  a  young  man  as  America  could  boast,  was  thus 
hung  as  a  spy,  with  this  as  his  dying  observation,  that  he  »  only 
lamented  he  had  but  one  life  to  lose  for  his  country,  in  the  cause 
of  liberty  and  the  rights  of  man."  Though  the  incidents  attend 
ing  this  execution  will  ever  be  abhorred  by  every  friend  to  hu 
manity  and  religion,  yet  there  cannot  be  a  question,  but  that  the 
sentence  was  conformable  to  the  rules  of  war,  and  the  practice 
of  nations  in  similar  cases.  Intelligence  of  this  melancholy  event 
was  not  received  by  General  Washington  for  a  long  time. 

The  defeat  of,  and  retreat  from  Long  Island,  inspired  unmin- 
gled  disappointment  and  apprehension  in  the  minds  of  the  Ameri 
can  soldiers  ;  who  could  not  have  acquired  that  power  of  sustain 
ing  ill-success  without  any  diminution  of  spirit  and  energy  which 
is  peculiar  to  veteran  troops.  The  manner  in  which  the  army  was 
constituted,  was,  consequently,  almost  fatal  to  the  cause.  The 
limited  period  for  which  the  troops  were  enlisted,  and  which  with 
many  was  on  the  point  of  expiring,  induced  them,  as  far  as  possi 
ble,  to  shrink  from  active  service. 

This  state  of  things  was  matter  of  the  most  painful  concern  to 
the  commander-in-chief.  Had  he  held  in  his  own  hands  the  dis- 


EFFECT  OF  THE  BATTLE.          247 

posal  of  the  war,  or  possessed  the  powers  which  are  ordinarily 
vested  in  officers  of  his  rank,  his  decision  of  character  would 
doubtless  have  soon  manifested  itself  in  the  adoption  of  the  admi 
rable  measures  which  he  could  at  present  only  recommend.  In 
his  present  position  that  decision  of  mind  could  only  be  exhi 
bited  in  its  rarest  form,  in  the  patient  endurance  of  failure,  with 
but  a  distant  prospect  of  remedy,  and  in  the  maintenance  of  un 
wavering  energy,  in  the  absence  of  all  the  stimulants  which  usually 
incite  to  it.  That  he  did  not  sink  under  the  accumulated  disap 
pointments  which  now  began  to  overtake  him,  may  indeed  be 
attributed,  in  part,  to  the  robustness  and  insusceptibility  of  his 
physical  and  mental  constitution ;  but  far  more  to  that  all-absorb 
ing  patriotism  which  lightened  every  burden,  and  sweetened  every 
suffering  sustained  in  the  cause  of  American  freedom. 

His  views  of  the  present  condition  of  the  army  may  best  be 
given  in  his  owrn  words,  as  they  are  contained  in  a  letter  addressed 
to  Congress  on  the  2d  of  September,  1776.  The  letter  is  as  fol 
lows  : 

"  As  my  intelligence  of  late  has  been  rather  unfavourable,  and 
would  be  received  with  anxiety  and  concern,  peculiarly  happy 
should  I  esteem  myself,  were  it  in  my  power,  at  this  time,  to  trans 
mit  such  information  to  Congress  as  would  be  more  pleasing  and 
agreeable  to  their  wishes  ;  but,  unfortunately  for  me,  unfortunately 
for  them,  it  is  not.  Our  situation  is  truly  distressing.  The  check 
our  detachment  sustained  on  the  27th  ultimo,  has  dispirited  too 
great  a  proportion  of  our  troops,  and  filled  their  minds  with  ap 
prehension  and  despair.  The  militia,  instead  of  calling  forth  their 
utmost  efforts  to  a  brave  and  manly  opposition,  in  order  to  repair 
our  losses,  are  dismayed,  intractable,  and  impatient  to  return. 
Great  numbers  of  them  have  gone  off;  in  some  instances,  almost 
by  whole  regiments,  by  half  ones,  and  by  companies  at  a  time. 
This  circumstance,  of  itself,  independent  of  others,  when  fronted 
by  a  well  appointed  enemy,  superior  in  number  to  our  whole  col 
lected  force,  would  be  sufficiently  disagreeable ;  but,  when  their 
example  has  infected  another  part  of  the  army,  when  their  want  of 
discipline,  and  refusal  of  almost  every  kind  of  restraint  and  govern 
ment,  have  produced  a  like  conduct,  but  too  common  to  the  whole, 
and  an  entire  disregard  to  that  order  and  subordination  necessary 
to  the  well-doing  of  an  army,  and  which  had  been  inculcated  be 
fore,  as  well  as  the  nature  of  our  military  establishment  would 
admit  of,  our  condition  becomes  still  more  alarming ;  and,  with 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

the  deepest  concern,  I  am  obliged  to  confess  my  want  of  confi 
dence  in  the  generality  of  the  troops. 

"  All  these  circumstances  fully  confirm  the  opinion  I  ever  enter 
tained,  and  which  I,  more  than  once,  in  my  letters,  took  the  liberty 
of  mentioning  to  Congress,  that  no  dependence  could  be  put  in  a 
militia,  or  other  troops  than  those  enlisted  and  imbodied  for  a 
longer  period  than  our  regulations  heretofore  have  prescribed.  I 
am  persuaded,  and  as  fully  convinced  as  I  am  of  any  one  fact  that 
has  happened,  that  our  liberties  must  of  necessity  be  greatly  ha 
zarded,  if  not  entirely  lost,  if  their  defence  is  left  to  any  but  a  per 
manent  standing  army  ;  I  mean,  one  to  exist  during  the  war. 
Nor  would  the  expense  incident  to  the  support  of  such  a  body  of 
troops  as  would  be  competent  to  almost  every  exigency,  far  ex 
ceed  that  which  is  daily  incurred  by  calling  in  succour,  and  new 
enlistments,  which,  when  effected,  are  not  attended  with  any  good 
consequences.  Men  who  have  been  free,  and  subject  to  no  con 
trol,  cannot  be  reduced  to  order  in  an  instant ;  and  the  privileges 
and  exemptions  which  they  claim  and  will  have,  influence  the  con 
duct  of  others ;  and  the  aid  derived  from  them  is  nearly  counter 
balanced  by  the  disorder,  irregularity,  and  confusion  they  occa 
sion. 

"I  cannot  find  that  the  bounty  of  ten  dollars  is  likely  to  produce 
the  desired  effect.  When  men  can  get  double  that  sum  to  engage 
for  a  month  or  two  in  the  militia,  and  that  militia  frequently  called 
out,  it  is  hardly  to  be  expected.  The  addition  of  land  might  have 
a  considerable  influence  on  a  permanent  enlistment.  Our  number 
of  men  at  present  fit  for  duty  is  under  twenty  thousand  ;  they  were 
so  by  the  last  returns  and  best  accounts  I  could  get  after  the  en 
gagement  on  Long  Island ;  since  which,  numbers  have  deserted. 
I  have  ordered  General  Mercer  to  send  the  men  intended  for  the 
flying  camp  to  this  place,  about  a  thousand  in  number,  and  to  try, 
with  the  militia,  if  practicable,  to  make  a  diversion  upon  Staten 
Island.  Till  of  late,  I  had  no  doubt  in  my  own  mind  of  defending 
this  place  ;  nor  should  I  have  yet,  if  the  men  would  do  their  duty  ; 
but  this  I  despair  of.  It  is  painful,  and  extremely  grating  to  me, 
to  give  such  unfavourable  accounts ;  but  it  would  be  criminal  to 
conceal  the  truth  at  so  critical  a  juncture.  Every  power  I  possess 
shall  be  exerted  to  serve  the  cause  ;  and  my  first  wish  is,  that, 
whatever  may  be  the  event,  the  Congress  will  do  me  the  justice  to 
think  so." 

The  general's  concern  for  the  pecuniary  resources  of  his  country 
probably  induced  him  to  omit,  in  this  letter,  urging  the  Congress 


NEGOTIATIONS   WITH    ADMIRAL    HOWE.        249 

to  remedy  a  defect  in  the  structure  of  the  army,  which  was  proba 
bly  one  of  the  causes  of  the  late  miscarriage.  The  American  army 
contained  not  a  single  corps  of  cavalry.  "  Had  the  general,"  says 
Judge  Marshall,  "  been  furnished  with  a  few  troops  of  light-horse, 
to  serve  merely  as  videts,  it  is  probable  that  the  movement,  so 
decisive  of  the  fate  of  the  day,  could  not  have  been  made  unno 
ticed." 

The  defeat  of  Long  Island,  followed  up  so  closely  by  this  serious 
remonstrance,  opened  the  eyes  of  Congress,  dispelled  the  delusion, 
which  maintained  that  the  defence  of  the  country  needed  not  a 
regular  army,  and  convinced  all  that  an  organized  and  permanent 
army  was  essential  to  the  defence  of  the  republic,  and  soon  after 
the  reception  of  Washington's  letter,  a  resolution  \vas  adopted  to 
raise  and  equip  eighty-eight  battalions,  to  serve  during  the  war. 
Tardy  resolution,  when  a  great  army  had  landed  in  the  country, 
and  had  obtained  a  signal  victory  ! 

Admiral  Howe  took  advantage  of  the  effect  which  that  victory- 
had  produced  on  the  minds  of  the  Congress,  by  opening  a  negotia 
tion  in  the  exercise  of  his  power  as  a  commissioner.  For  this  pur 
pose  General  Sullivan  was  sent  on  parole  to  Philadelphia,  with  a 
verbal  message  from  Admiral  Howe,  stating  his  powers,  and  say 
ing  that  though  he  could  not  treat  with  them  in  the  character  which 
they  had  assumed,  yet  he  was  desirous  of  a  conference  with  some 
of  the  members  in  the  character  of  private  gentlemen,  for  the  pur 
pose,  if  still  possible,  of  adjusting  the  dispute  between  Great  Bri 
tain  and  America.  When  General  Sullivan  reached  Philadelphia, 
he  was  instructed  by  Congress  to  present  the  message  of  Admiral 
Howe  to  them  in  writing.  This  was  done,  and  after  much  debate, 
it  was  resolved  that  General  Sullivan  be  requested  to  inform  Lord 
Howe,  that,  «  being  the  representatives  of  the  free  and  independent 
states  of  America,  they  could  not  with  propriety  send  any  of  their 
members  to  confer  with  him  in  their  private  characters  ;  but  that, 
ever  desirous  of  establishing  peace  on  reasonable  terms,  they  would 
send  a  committee  of  their  body  to  know  if  he  had  any  authority 
to  treat  with  persons  appointed  by  Congress  for  that  purpose,  in 
behalf  of  America,  and  what  that  authority  was,  and  to  hear  such 
propositions  as  he  should  think  fit  to  make  upon  the  subject." 

Dr.  Franklin,  John  Adams,  and  Edward  Rutledge,  were  ap 
pointed  the  committee  « to  receive  the  communications  of  Admiral 
Howe."  They  waited  on  his  lordship  on  the  llth  of  September, 
in  Staten  Island,  and  were  received  with  great  politeness,  but  as 
the  main  condition  on  one  side  was  «  allegiance,"  and  on  the  other 
32 


250  LIFE    OF   WASHINGTON. 

« independence,"  the  conference  proved  fruitless.  General  Sulli 
van  returned  once  more  a  captive  to  the  British  camp,  and  in  the 
course  of  the  month  was  exchanged  for  General  Prescott.  The 
committee  of  Congress  returned  to  Philadelphia,  and,  on  the  17th 
of  September,  made  their  report.  They  sum  up  their  account  of 
the  conference  in  these  words  : 

«  Upon  the  whole,  it  did  not  appear  to  your  committee,  that  his 
lordship's  commission  contained  any  other  authority  of  importance 
than  what  is  contained  in  the  act  of  Parliament,  viz. :  that  of 
granting  pardon  with  such  exceptions  as  the  commissioners  shall 
think  proper  to  make,  and  of  declaring  America,  or  any  part  of  it, 
to  be  in  the  king's  peace,  upon  submission.  For  as  to  the  power 
of  inquiring  into  the  state  of  America,  which  his  lordship  men 
tioned  to  us,  and  of  conferring  and  consulting  with  any  persons 
the  commissioners  might  think  proper,  and  representing  the  result 
of  such  conversations  to  the  ministry,  who  (provided  the  colonies 
would  subject  themselves)  might,  after  all,  or  might  not,  at  their 
pleasure,  make  any  alterations  in  the  former  instructions  to  gover 
nors,  or  propose  in  parliament  any  amendment  of  the  acts  com 
plained  of,  we  apprehend  any  expectation  from  the  effect  of  such  a 
power  \vould  have  been  too  uncertain  and  precarious  to  be  relied 
on  by  America,  had  she  still  continued  in  her  state  of  depend 
ence." 

This  conference,  though  ineffectual  with  respect  to  the  object 
immediately  in  view,  was  of  considerable  service  to  the  Americans. 
It  arrested  General  Howe  in  the  career  of  victory,  and  suspended, 
during  its  progress,  the  operations  of  the  campaign.  It  afforded  a 
pause  to  the  dispirited  Americans,  and  gave  them  time  to  rally 
their  drooping  spirits  ;  a  matter,  in  their  circumstances,  of  no  slight 
importance. 

The  British  army,  now  in  complete  possession  of  Long  Island, 
fronted  and  threatened  New  York  Island  from  its  extreme  southern 
point  to  the  part  opposite  to  the  northren  extremity  of  Long  Island 
— a  space  of  about  nine  miles.  The  two  armies  were  thus  sepa 
rated  only  by  the  East  River,  which  is,  on  an  average,  about  thir 
teen  hundred  yards  wide,  and  on  both  sides  of  which  batteries 
were  erected,  which  kept  up  an  almost  incessant  cannonade  upon 
each  other.  Immediately  after  the  battle  of  Long  Island,  General 
Howe  made  preparations  for  the  purpose  of  compelling  Washing 
ton  to  evacuate  New  York.  This  he  thought  himself  unable  to 
accomplish  by  a  direct  attack  upon  the  American  lines,  and  ac 
cordingly  he  sought  to  affect  it  by  a  circuitous  manoeuvre.  A 


EVACUATION   OF    NEW   YORK.  251 

part  of  the  fleet  sailed  round  Long  Island,  and  appeared  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  Sound.  Two  frigates  passed  between  Governor's 
Island  and  Red  Hook,  up  the  East  River,  without  any  apparent  in 
jury  from  the  batteries,  and  were  sheltered  behind  a  small  island 
from  the  American  artillery,  while  the  admiral,  with  the  main  body 
of  the  fleet,  lay  at  anchor  close  in  with  Governor's  Island,  ready  to 
pass  up  either  the  North  or  East  River,  or  both,  and  act  against  any 
part  of  New  York  Island,  as  might  be  required.  These  movements 
indicated  a  disposition  to  land  somewhere  about  Kingsbridge,  and 
take  a  position  which  would  cut  off  the  communication  of  the 
American  army  with  the  country,  and  thereby  force  them  to  a  bat 
tle,  which,  if  unfortunate  in  its  issue,  would  infallibly  destroy 
them. 

In  this  state  of  things  General  Washington  called  a  counsel  of 
the  general  officers,  who,  upon  a  full  and  comprehensive  view  of 
their  situation,  advised  him  to  arrange  the  army  in  three  divisions; 
five  thousand  men  to  remain  for  the  defence  of  the  city ;  nine  thou 
sand  to  take  post  at  Kingsbridge  and  its  dependencies,  as  well  to 
possess  and  secure  those  important  positions  as  to  be  ready  to 
repel  any  attempt  of  the  enemy  to  land  on  the  island  ;  and  the  re 
mainder  to  occupy  the  intermediate  space,  and  support  either. 
A  few  days  afterwards  it  was  determined  to  withdraw  the  five 
thousand  from  New  York,  and  with  them  strengthen  the  other 
posts. 

"I  am  sensible,"  says  the  general,  in  a  letter  to  Congress,  "that 
a  retreating  army  is  encircled  with  difficulties  ;  that  declining  an 
engagement  subjects  a  general  to  reproach  ;  and  that  the  common 
cause  may  be  affected  by  the  discouragement  it  may  throw  over 
the  minds  of  many.  Nor  am  I  insensible  of  the  contrary  effects,  if 
a  brilliant  stroke  could  be  made  with  any  probability  of  success, 
especially  after  our  loss  upon  Long  Island.  But,  when  the  fate  of 
America  may  be  at  stake  on  the  issue,  when  the  wisdom  of  cooler 
moments  and  experienced  men  have  decided  that  we  should  pro 
tract  the  war,  if  possible,  I  cannot  think  it  safe  or  wise  to  adopt  a 
different  system,  when  the  season  for  action  draws  so  near  to  a  close. 
That  the  enemy  mean  to  winter  in  New  York,  there  can  be  no 
doubt ;  that  with  such  an  armament  they  can  drive  us  out,  is 
equally  clear.  The  Congress  having  resolved  that  it  should  not  be 
destroyed,  nothing  seems  to  remain,  but  to  determine  the  time  of 
their  taking  possession.  It  is  our  interest  and  wish  to  prolong  it 
as  much  as  possible,  provided  the  delay  does  not  affect  our  fu 
ture  measures." 


252  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

When  the  evacuation  of  New  York  city  was  finally  resolved  on, 
General  Washington  immediately  began  to  remove  the  sick,  amount 
ing  to  more  than  the  fourth  part  of  the  whole  army,  together  with  the 
military  stores  and  provisions,  to  a  place  of  safety  above  Kingsbridge. 
The  sick  were  removed,  but  before  all  the  stores  could  be  brought 
off,  three  ships  of  war  ran  up  the  North  River  on  the  morning  of  the 
15th  of  September,  and,  though  they  were  probably  designed  to 
draw  the  attention  of  the  general  from  what  was  passing  on  the 
other  side  of  the  island,  they  also  effectually  prevented  the  removal 
of  the  remainder  of  the  stores  from  the  city  by  water.  About  the 
same  time,  General  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  detached  by  General  Howe, 
with  four  thousand  men,  crossed  the  East  River  in  flat-bottomed 
boats,  and,  under  cover  of  the  fire  of  six  or  seven  ships  of  war  which 
had  ascended  the  East  River  some  few  days  before,  landed  at  Kipp's 
Bay.  General  Washington,  who,  from  the  movements  of  the  enemy, 
had  thought  it  probable  they  would  soon  attempt  to  land  in  the 
vicinity  of  Haerlem,  had,  on  the  evening  of  the  14th,  proceeded  to 
that  place  ;  the  main  body  of  his  army  being  posted  on  the  sur 
rounding  heights.  Immediately  on  hearing  the  cannonade  the  next 
morning,  he  rode  with  all  possible  expedition  towards  the  place  of 
landing,  where  breastworks  had  been  thrown  up,  and  men  stationed 
to  oppose  the  enemy.  To  his  great  surprise  and  mortification, 
however,  he  found  the  troops  which  had  been  posted  there,  and 
those  ordered  to  their  support,  consisting  of  eight  regiments,  not 
withstanding  the  exertions  of  their  generals  to  form  them,  running 
away  in  the  most  disgraceful  manner.  On  the  appearance  of  a 
small  party  of  the  enemy,  not  more  than  sixty  or  seventy,  they  fled 
with  the  greatest  terror  and  precipitation,  without  firing  a  shot. 
General  Washington  met  the  fugitives  on  the  road,  drew  his  sword, 
threatened  and  endeavoured  to  rally  them.  But  his  efforts  were 
ineffectual ;  they  deserted  their  general-in-chief  in  the  presence  of 
the  enemy,  and  it  is  said  that  he  was  "so  vexed  at  the  infamous 
conduct  of  his  troops  that  he  sought  death  rather  than  life."4  To 
extricate  him  from  his  hazardous  situation,  his  attendants  found  it 
necessary  to  seize  the  reins  of  his  horse  and  turn  him  away  from 
the  enemy.  General  Clinton,  not  having  a  full  knowledge  of  the 
nature  of  the  field,  took  post  on  some  high  ground  called  the  Inclen- 
berg,  about  three  miles  north  of  the  city,  and  on  a  portion  of  the 
island,  where,  if  he  had  lengthened  his  lines,  or  passed  over  to  Haer 
lem  plains,  he  might  have  effectually  cut  off  the  retreat  of  the  troops 
still  in  the  city. 

*  General  Green's  Letter,  Sept.  17. 


EVACUATION    OF    NEW  YORK.  253 

ASHINGTON  immediately  sent  orders  to  General 
Putnam  to  evacuate  the  city  and  join  him  on  the 
heights  of  Haerlem ;  while  he  secured  those 
heights  in  the  best  manner  he  could  with  the 
troops  which  were  on  or  near  them.  Putnam's 
retreat  \vas  effected  with  the  loss  of  but  few  men, 
though  most  of  the  heavy  cannon  and  part  of  the 
stores  and  provisions  were  left  in  the  city. 

The  successive  retreats  which  had  followed  the  landing  of  the 
British  on  Long  Island,  had  so  dispirited  the  American  troops,  that 
they  fled  whenever  the  enemy  appeared.  The  new  position  of  the 
general's  quarters  on  the  heights  of  Haerlem,  was  such  as  to  allow 
of  frequent  skirmishes  with  the  enemy,  which  he  thought  might  have 
some  influence  in  accustoming  the  American  militia  to  oppose  the 
superior  discipline  of  the  British  troops.  Accordingly,  he  imme 
diately  formed  the  design  of  cutting  off  some  of  the  enemy's  light 
troops,  who,  encouraged  by  their  successes,  and  the  apparent  cow 
ardice  of  their  opponents,  had  advanced  to  the  extremity  of  the 
high  ground  opposite  to  the  American  camp.  To  effect  this  salu 
tary  purpose,  on  the  morning  of  the  16th  of  September,  the  day 
after  the  landing  of  General  Clinton,  Colonel  Knowlton  and  Major 
Leitch  were  detached  with  parties  of  riflemen  and  rangers  to  get  in 
their  rear,  while  a  disposition  was  made,  as  if  to  attack  them  in 
front.  A  sharp  conflict  ensued ;  each  party  was  reinforced ;  a 
severe  firing  was  kept  up  for  nearly  four  hours;  the  enemy  were 
put  to  flight  in  open  ground,  and  forced  from  posts  which  they  had 
seized  two  or  three  times.  In  consequence  of  the  attack  being  made 
on  the  flank  rather  than  the  rear,  as  had  been  directed,  the  British 
had  an  opportunity  of  retreating  to  their  main  body.  The  American 
loss  was  about  twenty  killed  and  forty  wounded,  but  the  greatest 
loss  sustained  was  in  the  death  of  Colonel  Knowlton,  who  fell  bravely 
fighting,  while  Major  Leitch  was  mortally  wounded.  These  offi 
cers  were  killed  near  the  beginning  of  the  action,  but  their  men, 
animated  by  the  example  of  the  inferior  officers,  persevered,  and 
continued  the  engagement  with  the  greatest  resolution ;  and  in 
some  measure  blotted  out  the  stain  of  the  preceding  day.  This  and 
similarly  successful  skirmishes  had  the  expected  effect  of  raising 
the  depressed  spirits  of  the  American  forces,  and  accustoming  them 
to  the  sound  of  the  British  cannon,  and  the  sight  and  effects  of  Bri 
tish  discipline. 

In  this  way  the  American  army  remained  encamped  on  the 
heights  of  Haerlem  for  upwards  of  three  weeks  in  a  state  of  com- 

Y 


254  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

parative  inactivity.  The  British  took  possession  of  New  York  on 
the  15th  of  September. 

On  the  21st  of  September,  a  destructive  fire  broke  out  in  New 
York,  and  reduced  about  a  fourth  part  of  the  city  to  ashes.  It 
began  in  a  dram  shop  near  the  river,  about  *one  o'clock  in  the 
morning  ;  and,  as  every  thing  was  dry,  and  the  houses  covered 
with  shingles,  the  flames  spread  rapidly,  and  raged  with  great  fury. 
Many  of  the  citizens  had  removed  from  the  town  before  the  entrance 
of  the  British,  the  pumps  and  fire-engines  were  in  bad  order,  and 
a  brisk  south  wind  fanned  the  flame.  Two  regiments  of  soldiers 
and  many  men  from  the  fleet  were  employed  to  arrest  the  progress 
of  the  devouring  element,  and  at  length  succeeded  in  extinguishing 
the  fire,  but  not  till  it  had  consumed  about  a  thousand  houses. 

«  The  Americans  have  been  accused  of  wilfully  setting  fire  to  the 
city.  •  Such  accusations  in  similar  circumstances  have  at  all  times 
been  made  ;  but  in  the  present  instance  the  charge  is  wholly 
unfounded.  It  is  most  likely  that  the  fire  was  occasioned  by  the 
inconsiderate  revelry  of  the  British  sailors,  who  had  been  permitted 
to  regale  themselves  on  shore."* 

Convinced  that  no  successful  attack  could  be  made  upon  the 
American  camp  from  the  side  of  New  York,  General  Howe  again 
attempted  to  cut  off  the  communication  of  the  army  with  the  New 
England  states,  and  by  enclosing  it  on  New  York  Island  compel 
General  Washington  to  a  general  engagement.  For  this  purpose, 
leaving  a  garrison  in  New  York,  early  on  the  morning  of  the  12th 
of  October,  he  embarked  the  remainder  of  his  army  in  flat-bottomed 
boats,  and,  in  the  coarse  of  the  same  morning,  landed  at  Frog's 
Neck,  in  West  Chester  county,  and  soon  after  advanced  to  New 
Rochelle,  where  he  was  joined  by  about  five  thousand  foreign  mer 
cenaries.  To  counteract  the  manifest  object  of  these  movements, 
General  Washington  extended  the  left  of  his  army  towards  White 
Plains,  beyond  the  right  of  the  enemy,  while  he  left  a  garrison  for 
the  protection  of  Fort  Washington  and  the  lines  of  Haerlem,  and 
Kingsbridge,  so  that  the  main  body  of  the  American  army  formed 
a  line  of  intrenched  camps  extending  from  twelve  to  thirteen  miles, 
from  the  heights  of  Haerlem  to  White  Plains.  The  British  moved 
with  slowness  and  circumspection,  towards  the  extreme  left  of  the 
American  lines.  The  compactness  which  they  endeavoured  to 
preserve,  did  not,  however,  prevent  some  skirmishes,  in  which  the 
Americans  conducted  themselves  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  com- 
rnander-in-chief.  On  the  26th  of  October,  the  main  body  of  the 

*  Western  World,  London,  1830,  vol.  i.  198,  199. 


MANOEUVRES    OF   THE    ARMIES.  255 

American  army,  to  the  number  of  about  seventeen  thousand,  took 
possession  of  the  heights,  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  Brunx,  in 
front  of  the  British  army.  Following  his  usual  plan,  Washington 
entrenched  his  camp  \viththe  greatest  rapidity,  and  in  such  a  man 
ner,  that  it  drew  from  the  British  general,  and  contemporary  British 
records,  the  highest  praise  for  his  military  talents.  A  bend  in  the 
river  covered  his  right  flank,  and  he  posted  a  body  of  about  sixteen 
hundred,  under  General  McDougall,  on  a  hill  in  a  line  with  his 
right,  but  on  the  western  side  of  the  Brunx. 

N  the  28th  of  October,  the  British  army  ad 
vanced  in  two  columns  towards  the  American 
camp.  The  left  column  was  led  by  General 
Howe  in  person,  while  the  other  was  led  by 
General  Clinton.  A  distant  cannonade  was 
kept  up  with  but  little  effect  on  either  side. 
McDougall's  detachment,  on  the  American 
right,  attracted  the  notice  of  General  Howe,  and  he  resolved  to 
dislodge  it.  He  ordered  General  Leslie,  with  the  second  British 
brigade,  and  Colonel  Donop,  with  the  Hessian  grenadiers,  on  that 
service.  On  their  advance,  the  American  militia  fled  with  precipi 
tation  ;  but  about  six  hundred  regulars,  animated  by  McDougall, 
vigorously  defended  themselves  for  some  time.  Being  at  last  com 
pelled  to  retreat,  the  British  took  possession  of  the  hill ;  but  they 
were  still  at  too  great  a  distance  to  be  able  to  annoy  any  part  of  the 
American  line. 

Three  days  afterwards,  General  Howe  having  received  reinforce 
ments  from  New  York  and  other  quarters,  resolved  to  attack  the 
American  camp.  A  heavy  rain,  during  the  whole  night  preceding 
the  day  appointed  for  the  attack,  rendered  the  ground  so  slippery, 
that  he  deemed  it  unadvisable  to  persist  in  the  attempt.  He  ac 
cordingly  changed  his  plan,  and  began  to  move  off  his  army  by 
small  detachments,  in  order,  unobserved,  if  possible,  to  possess 
himself  of  the  heights  behind  the  American  position.  On  perceiv 
ing  this,  Washington  withdrew  his  forces,  on  the  1st  of  November, 
towards  North  Castle,  and  took  a  strong  position  behind  the  river 
Croton,  about  two  miles  above  his  former  encampment ;  and  so 
strongly  did  he  fortify  this  excellent  position,  that  the  British  gene 
ral,  despairing  of  success  in  any  attempt  to  force  it,  marched  his 
army  away,  in  order  to  attack  Fort  Washington  ;  in  which  a  con 
siderable  garrison  had  been  left.  The  design  of  this  movement 
was  at  once  conjectured  by  General  Washington.  In  communi 
cating  the  information  to  Congress,  he  observes  : 


256  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

"I  cannot  indulge  an  idea,  that,  supposing  he  is  going  to  New 
York,  he  means  to  close  the  campaign,  and  to  sit  down  without 
attempting  something  more.  I  think  it  highly  probable,  and  almost 
certain,  that  he  will  make  a  descent,  with  a  part  of  his  troops,  into 
Jersey  ;  and,  as  soon  as  I  am  satisfied  that  the  present  manoeuvre 
is  real,  and  not  a  feint,  I  shall  use  every  means  in  my  power  to 
forward  a  part  of  our  force  to  counteract  his  designs."  In  a  sub 
sequent  part  of  the  same  letter,  he  says,  "  I  expect  the  enemy  will 
bend  their  force  against  Fort  Washington,  and  invest  it  immedi 
ately.  From  some  advices,  it  is  an  object  that  will  attract  their 
earliest  attention." 

He  wrote,  the  next  day,  to  Governor  Livingston,  of  Newr  Jersey, 
advising  him  of  the  measures  which  he  apprehended,  recommend 
ing  that  the  militia  should  be  held  in  readiness,  and  that  the  stock, 
and  every  thing  which  could  yield  support  to  the  British  army, 
should  be  removed  from  the  sea-coast,  or  destroyed.  Hearing  that 
three  British  vessels  had  sailed  up  the  Hudson  River,  notwith 
standing  the  obstructions  which  he  had  caused  to  be  sunk  in  the 
channel  ;  he  was  convinced  that  Fort  Washington  was  no  longer 
tenable,  or  if  it  could  be  retained,  it  would  be  of  no  use.  He 
accordingly  wrote  to  General  Greene,  who  commanded  on  the 
Jersey  shore,  and  was  particularly  intrusted  with  the  defence  of 
Forts  Washington  and  Lee,  "Ifwre  cannot  prevent  vessels  from 
passing  up,  and  the  enemy  are  possessed  of  the  surrounding  coun 
try,  what  valuable  purpose  can  it  answer,  to  attempt  to  hold  a  post 
from  which  the  expected  benefit  cannot  be  had  ?  I  am  therefore 
inclined  to  think,  that  it  will  not  be  prudent  to  hazard  the  men  and 
stores  at  Mount  Washington  ;  but,  as  you  are  on  the  spot,  I  leave 
it  to  you,  to  give  such  orders  respecting  the  evacuation  of  Fort 
Washington  as  you  may  judge  best." 

General  Greene,  being  thus  left  to  use  his  discretion,  being 
struck  with  the  importance  of  the  post,  and  the  discouragement 
which  the  successive  evacuation  of  posts  was  calculated  to  give, 
reinforced  Colonel  Magawr,  who  commanded  at  Fort  Washington, 
and  increased  the  garrison  to  two  thousand  men. 

Convinced  that  the  British  general  intended  to  move  southward, 
General  Washington,  on  the  llth  and  12th  of  November,  crossed 
the  river  with  the  greater  part  of  his  army.  He  was  obliged  to 
make  a  circuit  of  sixty-five  miles,  on  account  of  the  British  ship 
ping,  which  opposed  his  passage  at  all  the  lower  ferries.  In  the 
mean  time,  General  Howe  'appeared  before  Fort  Washington,  and, 
on  the  15th  of  November,  summoned  the  garrison  to  surrender. 


SURRENDER    OF   FORT   WASHINGTON.          257 

Colonel  Magaw  replied  that  he  would  defend  it  to  the  last  ex 
tremity.  This  summons  and  the  colonel's  answer  were  communi 
cated  to  General  Washington,  who  had  arrived  at  Fort  Lee.  In 
the  silent  hour  of  midnight  he  left  Fort  Lee  in  a  -boat,  and  sailed 
for  the  besieged  post.  On  his  way,  he  was  met  by  Generals  Greene 
and  Putnam,  who  assured  him  of  the  high  probability  of  the  mis 
carriage  of  the  enemy's  attempts,  as  well  as  the  ability  of  the  fort 
to  stand  a  siege  for  a  considerable  time,  and  he  returned  again  to 
Fort  Lee. 

On  the  following  morning,  Howe,  with  unusual  boldness,  deter 
mined  to  attempt  the  reduction  of  the  fort  by  storm,  and  advanced 
against  it  in  four  divisions.  In  a  few  hours,  after  an  obstinate  re 
sistance,  they  succeeded  in  surmounting  the  outworks,  and  driv 
ing  the  garrison  within  the  fort.  In  this  situation  General  Howe 
again  demanded  their  surrender.  The  ammunition  of  the  Ameri 
cans  being  nearly  expended,  and  the  numbers  being  very  unequal, 
Colonel  Magaw  surrendered  himself  and  the  soldiers  under  his 
command,  prisoners  of  war.  It  was  most  unfortunate  that  this  sur 
render  was  made  so  hastily,  as,  during  the  negotiation,  a  message 
was  received  from  General  Washington,  that  he  would  bring  troops 
to  his  assistance  in  the  evening,  or,  if  the  fortress  could  not  be 
maintained,  he  would  endeavour  to  bring  off  the  garrison.  This 
offer  came  too  late.  He  had  already  entered  too  far  into  a  treaty 
to  retract.  In  the  attack,  the  British  lost  about  eight  hundred  men, 
in  killed  and  wounded.  That  of  the  Americans  was  inconsider 
able. 

On  the  20th  of  November,  Lord  Cornwallis  was  detached  with 
a  large  force,  to  cross  the  Hudson,  probably  with  the  hope  of  sur 
rounding  the  whole  American  army,  which  lay  around  Fort  Lee, 
between  the  Hackinsac  and  Hudson  Rivers.  Retreat  was  now  un 
avoidable.  Already  part  of  the  stores  had  been  removed,  but  the 
greater  part  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  The  retreat  of  the 
army  over  the  Hackinsac  was  effected  without  loss  of  men.  These 
misfortunes  were  indeed  disastrous,  and  almost  insupportable. 
The  troops  taken  at  Fort  Washington  were  the  flower  of  the  army, 
and  the  loss  of  the  provisions  captured  at  Fort  Lee  was  most  se 
verely  felt  in  an  army  which  was  at  the  best  but  scantily  supplied. 
These  two  losses  were  the  greatest  that  had  ever  befallen  the 
American  cause,  and  they  maybe  considered  as  the  commencement 
of  a  period  of  suffering,  almost  unexampled  in  the  history  of  war 
fare.  Of  all  the  eras  of  Washington's  career,  this  was  the  one 
which  most  severely  tested  his  courage  and  patriotism.  The  pro- 
33  Y  2 


258  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

spect  around  him  and  before  him,  so  far  as  human  sagacity  could 
penetrate  the  future,  was  gloomy  and  melancholy  in  the  extreme. 
To  add  to  his  difficulties,  now,  when  he  needed  numbers  at  his 
command,  and  enthusiasm  in  the  minds  of  all,  he  saw  his  army  on 
the  eve  of  dissolution,  the  time  of  enlistment  tfeing  nearly  expired, 
and  the  soldiers  themselves,  unused  to  defeat,  and  weary  of  the 
service,  anxious  for  nothing  more  than  to  return  to  their  own 
homes.  Under  these  depressing  circumstances,  he  wrote  to  Gene 
ral  Lee,  who  was  still  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Hudson,  desir 
ing  him  to  join  him  with  his  forces ;  but,  unhappily,  the  same 
wretched  system  of  short  enlistments  frustrated  this  design.  His 
troops  were  daily  vanishing  on  the  expiration  of  their  term  of  en 
listment,  and  he  urged  this  as  a  reason  why  it  would  be  impolitic 
in  him  to  hazard  a  march  past  the  enemy  to  join  his  general. 
The  forces  stationed  at  Bergen,  under  General  Mercer,  were  also 
fast  melting  away,  and  the  newly-drafted  militia  but  scantily  sup 
plied  the  places  of  the  deserters.  In  addition  to  these  adverse 
circumstances,  the  inhabitants  of  New  Jersey  were  in  a  great  mea 
sure  indifferent  to  the  cause  of  their  country,  and  many  of  the 
most  wealthy  testified  a  desire  to  return  to  their  allegiance  to  Bri 
tain.  So  high  had  this  spirit  run,  in  the  county  of  Monmouth, 
that  General  Washington  was  obliged  to  detach  some  militia  to 
suppress  an  insurrection  of  the  royalists  there.  The  danger  of  a 
majority  of  the  people  of  the  state  deserting  the  cause  of  inde 
pendence,  when  the  enemy  should  come  among  them,  and  thus 
causing  a  disruption  in  the  political  union  of  America,  gave  him 
the  most  serious  alarm. 

Being  liable  to  be  enclosed  between  the  Hackinsac  and  Passaic 
Rivers,  and  unable  to  prevent  the  crossing  of  the  enemy,  Washing 
ton  retreated  to  Newark,  where  he  remained  some  days,  making 
the  most  earnest  applications  in  every  quarter  for  reinforcements, 
and  pressing  General  Lee  to  hasten  his  march  to  the  southward 
and  join  him.  On  the  appearance  of  Cornwallis,  on  the  29th  No 
vember,  he  retreated  to  Brunswick.  While  there,  the  term  of  ser 
vice  of  the  Maryland  and  Jersey  troops  expired,  and  he  had  the 
mortification  of  witnessing  the  gradual  diminution  of  his  feeble 
army  in  the  very  sight  of  a  pursuing  enemy.  He  continued  in 
Brunswick  until  the  advanced  guards  of  the  enemy  showed  them 
selves,  when  he  again  fell  back,  and  leaving  twelve  hundred  men 
under  Lord  Sterling  at  Princeton,  he  himself,  with  the  remainder 
of  the  army,  proceeded  to  Trenton,  on  the  Delaware.  Having  taken 
the  precaution  of  collecting  and  guarding  all  the  boats  on  this 


RETREAT    TO    TRENTON.  259 

river,  from  Philadelphia  upwards  for  seventy  miles,  he  first  sent 
his  sick  to  Philadelphia,  and  his  few  remaining  military  stores  and 
baggage  across  the  Delaware,  and  then  sent  a  detachment  of  twelve 
hundred  men  to  Princeton,  to  keep  up  the  appearance  of  opposition, 
and  soon  after  followed  with  two  thousand  militia ;  but  before  he 
reached  Princeton,  he  received  intelligence  that  Lord  Cornwallis 
was  advancing  from  Brunswick  by  several  routes,  evidently  with 
the  intention  of  gaining  his  rear  and  cutting  off  his  retreat  across 
the  Delaware.  An  immediate  retreat  was  necessary.  Lord  Ster 
ling  was  called  in,  and,  on  the  8th  of  December,  he  accomplished 
the  passage  at  Trenton  ferry,  the  van  of  the  British  army  making 
its  appearance  just  as  his  rear-guard  had  crossed. 

General  Washington  was  careful  to  secure  all  the  boats  in  the 
river  on  the  Pennsylvania  side,  so  that  the  little  army  could  now 
rest  in  some  security,  after  a  retreat  of  three  weeks  in  front  of  an 
enemy  six  times  their  number.  The  distresses  suffered  by  the 
troops  in  this  retreat,  have  scarcely  been  surpassed  since  the  cele 
brated  retreat  of  the  Ten  Thousand.  Dispirited  by  their  recent  losses 
and  fatigues,  these  men  marched  almost  naked  and  barefooted 
through  the  snows  and  extreme  cold  of  November  and  December, 
before,  and  almost  continually  in  sight  of,  a  numerous,  well-ap 
pointed,  and  victorious  enemy,  through  a  desponding  country  ;  the 
inhabitants  of  which  were  much  more  disposed  to  secure  safety  by 
submission,  than  to  seek  it  by  manly  resistance.  It  is  said,  that 
the  march  through  New  Jersey  could  actually  be  traced  by  the 
blood  which  their  lacerated  feet  left  upon  the  snow  or  the  soil. 

"  While  General  Washington  was  retreating  through  New  Jersey, 
he  almost  daily  earnestly  desired  General  Lee  to  hasten  his  march 
towards  the  Delaware,  and  join  the  main  army.  But  that  officer, 
notwithstanding  the  critical  nature  of  the  case,  and  the  pressing 
orders  of  his  commander,  was  in  no  haste  to  obey.  Reluctant 
to  give  up  his  separate  command,  and  subject  himself  to  supe 
rior  authority,  he  marched  slowly  to  the  southward  at  the  head  of 
between  three  and  four  thousand  men  ;  and  his  sluggish  move 
ments  and  unwary  conduct  proved  fatal  to  his  own  personal  liberty, 
and  excited  a  lively  sensation  throughout  the  whole  country.  Lying 
carelessly,  and  with  but  a  small  guard,  at  some  distance  from  his 
troops,  at  a  house  called  White's  Tavern,  near  Baskenbridge,  in 
Morris  County,  he  was  surprised  by  Colonel  Harcourt,  and  carried 
off  a  prisoner  to  New  York.  For  some  time  he  was  closely  con 
fined,  and  considered,  not  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  but  as  a  deserter 
from  the  British  army.  The  command  of  his  division  devolved 


260  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

upon  General  Sullivan,  who,  towards  the  ejid  of  December,  con 
ducted  it  across  the  Delaware  to  General  Washington's  army.  At 
the  same  time,  General  Gates,  with  part  of  the  army  of  Canada, 
arrived  in  camp." 

Before  Washington  retreated  across  the  Delaware,  a  proclamation 
was  issued  by  Admiral  and  General  Howe,  as  commissioners 
appointed  on  the  part  of  the  crowrn  for  restoring  peace  to  America ; 
commanding  all  persons  assembled  in  arms  against  his  majesty's 
government,  to  disband  and  return  to  their  homes  ;  and  all  civil 
officers  to  desist  from  their  treasonable  practices,  and  relinquish 
their  usurped  authority.  A  full  pardon  was  also  offered  to  every 
person  who  would,  within  sixty  days,  appear  before  certain  civil 
or  military  officers  of  the  crown,  and  claim  the  benefit  of  that  pro 
clamation,  and,  at  the  same  time,  testify  his  obedience  to  the  laws, 
by  subscribing  a  declaration  of  his  submission  to  the  royal  autho 
rity.  Copies  of  this  proclamation  were  immediately  dispersed 
through  the  country,  after  which,  many  sought  peace  and  pardon 
by  accepting  the  offers  of  the  British  commissioners. 

The  firmness  of  Washington's  mind  was  undisturbed  by  the 
misfortunes  which  had  befallen  him,  or  by  the  defection  of  those 
who  ought  to  have  supported  the  cause  of  freedom  with  their  arms. 
The  inflexible  firmness,  the  majesty  of  his  demeanor,  at  this  critical 
juncture,  exerted  a  powerful  influence  over  the  minds  of  many 
who  would  otherwise  have  despaired  of  the  republic.  The  tempo 
rary  inaction  which  followed  his  retreat  over  the  Delaware,  \\ras 
embraced  to  lay  again  before  Congress  reiterated  remonstrances 
against  the  fatal  system  of  short  enlistments.  That  body  had  ad 
journed  from  Philadelphia  on  the  12th,  to  meet  at  Baltimore  on  the 
20th  of  December,  leaving  a  committee  of  three  members  in  Phila 
delphia,  with  powers  to  transact  such  continental  business  as  re 
quired  attention  in  that  city.  Before  their  adjournment  they  re 
solved,  that,  until  Congress  should  otherwise  order,  full  power 
should  be  conferred  on  General  Washington,  to  order,  and  direct 
all  things  relative  to  the  department,  and  to  the  operations  of  war. 
Under  this  resolution,  the  general  ventured  to  order  three  battalions 
of  artillery  to  be  immediately  recruited ;  but,  thinking  the  exercise 
of  the  powers  necessary  to  the  existence  of  the  army,  and  the  pro 
secution  of  the  war,  not  fully  authorized  by  this  hasty  resolution, 
passed  in  the  hurry  of  adjournment,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
President  of  Congress,  on  the  20th  of  December,  in  which  he  urged 
upon  him  the  necessity  of  more  particularly  specifying  the  powers 
with  which  he  was  intrusted,  and  enabling  him  to  execute  important 


DEMAND    OF   A   STANDING   ARMY.    .  261 

measures  without  consulting  them.  He  says,  "I  think  the  design 
of  General  Howe  is  to  possess  himself  of  Philadelphia  this  winter, 
if  possible  ;  and,  in  truth,  I  do  not  see  what  is  to  prevent  him,  as 
ten  days  more  will  put  an  end  to  the  existence  of  our  army.  That 
one  great  point  is  to  keep  us  as  much  harassed  as  possible,  wdth 
a  view  to  injure  the  recruiting  service,  and  hinder  a  collection  of 
stores  and  other  necessaries  for  the  next  campaign,  I  am  as  clear 
in  as  I  am  of  my  existence.  If,  therefore,  in  the  short  interval  in 
which  we  have  to  provide  for,  and  make  these  great  and  arduous 
preparations,  every  matter  that  in  its  nature  is  self-evident  is  to  be 
referred  to  Congress,  at  the  distance  of  a  hundred  and  thirty  or  forty 
miles,  so  much  time  must  necessarily  elapse  as  to  defeat  the  end 
in  view. 

"  It  may  be  said,  that  this  is  an  application  for  po\vers  that  are 
too  dangerous  to  be  intrusted.  I  can  only  add,  that  desperate  dis 
eases  require  desperate  remedies  ;  and  I,  with  truth,  declare,  that 
I  have  no  lust  after  power  ;  but  I  wish,  with  as  much  fervency  as 
any  man  upon  this  wide-extended  continent,  for  an  opportunity  of 
turning  the  sword  into  the  ploughshare.  But  my  feelings,  as  an 
officer  and  a  man,  have  been  such  as  to  force  me  to  say,  that  no 
person  ever  had  a  greater  choice  of  difficulties  to  contend  with  than 
I  have. 

«  It  is  needless  to  add,  that  short  enlistments,  and  a  mistaken 
dependence  on  militia,  have  been  the  origin  of  all  our  misfortunes, 
and  the  great  accumulation  of  our  debt.  We  find,  sir,  that  the 
enemy  are  daily  gathering  strength  from  the  disaffected.  This 
strength,  like  a  snow-ball,  by  rolling,  will  increase,  unless  some 
means  can  be  devised  to  check  effectually  the  progress  of  the  ene 
my's  arms.  Militia  may  possibly  do  it  for  a  little  while  ;  but  in 
a  little  while,  also,  and  the  militia  of  those  states  which  have 
been  frequently  called  upon,  will  not  turn  out  at  all  ;  or  if  they 
do,  it  will  be  with  so  much  reluctance  and  sloth  as  to  amount  to 
the  same  thing.  Instance  New  Jersey  !  Witness  Pennsylvania  ! 
Could  any  thing  but  the  river  Delaware  have  saved  Philadelphia  ? 
Can  any  thing  (the  exigency  of  the  case  indeed  may  justify  it)  be 
more  destructive  to  the  recruiting  service,  than  giving  ten  dollars 
bounty  for  six  weeks'  service  of  the  militia,  who  come  in,  you  can 
not  tell  how  ;  go,  you  cannot  tell  when  ;  and  act,  you  cannot  tell 
where  ;  consume  your  provisions,  exhaust  your  stores,  and  leave 
you  at  last,  at  a  critical  moment  ? 

"These,  sir,  are  the  men  I  am  to  depend  upon,  ten  days  hence; 
this  is  the  basis  on  which  your  cause  will,  and  must  for  ever  depend, 


262  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

till  you  get  a  large  standing  army,  sufficient  of  itself  to  oppose  the 
enemy.  I  therefore  beg  leave  to  give  it  as  my  humble  opinion, 
that  eighty-eight  battalions  are  by  no  means  equal  to  the  opposition 
you  are  to  make,  and  that  a  moment's  time  is  not  to  be  lost  in 
raising  a  greater  number — not  less,  in  my  opinion,  and  the  opinion 
of  my  officers,  than  a  hundred  and  ten.  It  may  be  urged  that  it 
will  be  found  difficult  enough  to  complete  the  fir^t  number.  This 
may  be  true,  and  yet  the  officers  of  a  hundred  and  ten  battalions 
will  recruit  many  more  men  than  those  of  eighty-eight.  In  my 
judgment,  this  is  not  a  time  to  stand  upon  expense;  our  funds  are 
not  the  only  object  of  consideration.  The  state  of  New  York  have 
added  one  battalion  (I  wish  they  had  made  it  two)  to  their  quota. 
If  any  good  officers  will  offer  to  raise  men  upon  continental  pay 
and  establishment  in  this  quarter,  I  shall  encourage  them  to  do  so, 
and  regiment  them  when  they  have  done  it.  If  Congress  disap 
prove  of  this  proceeding,  they  will  please  to  signify  it,  as  I  mean  it 
for  the  best. 

"It  may  be  thought  that  I  am  going  a  good  deal  out  of  the  line 
of  my  duty,  to  adopt  these  measures,  or  advise  thus  freely.  A 
character  to  lose,  an  estate  to  forfeit,  the  inestimable  blessings  of 
liberty  at  stake,  and  a  life  devoted,  must  be  ray  excuse." 

On  the  reception  of  this  letter,  the  Congress,  notwithstanding 
the  extreme  jealousy  which  many  of  the  members  entertained  of 
military  supremacy,  were  constrained,  by  the  alarming  aspect 
of  affairs,  to  vest  in  General  Washington  for  six  months  such 
powers  as  would  have  rendered  him,  in  the  days  of  old  Rome,  a 
military  dictator.  On  the  27th  of  December,  depending  on  the 
"wisdom,  vigour,  and  uprightness  of  General  Washington,"  they 
passed  a  resolution  vesting  in  him  "full  powers  to  raise  and  equip 
sixteen  additional  battalions  of  infantry  ;  to  appoint  their  officers  ; 
to  raise,  officer,  and  equip  three  thousand  light  horse,  three  regi 
ments  of  artillery,  and  a  corps  of  engineers,  and  to  establish  their 
pay ;  to  apply  to  any  of  the  states  for  such  aid  of  the  militia  as  he 
should  judge  necessary;  to  form  such  magazines  of  provisions,  and 
in  such  places  as  he  should  think  proper  ;  to  displace  and  appoint 
all  officers  under  the  rank  of  brigadier-general,  and  to  fill  up  all 
vacancies  in  every  other  department  of  the  American  army ;  to  take 
whatever  he  might  want  for  the  use  of  the  army,  (if  the  owners 
would  not  sell  it,)  allowing  a  reasonable  price  for  the  same  ;  to 
arrest  and  confine  persons  who  would  refuse  to  take  the  continental 
money,  or  who  were  otherwise  disaffected  to  the  American  cause  ; 
and  return  to  the  states  of  which  they  were  citizens,  their  names, 


POWERS    OF    THE    COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.     263 

and  the  nature  of  their  offences,  together  with  the  witnesses  to 
prove  them." 

Congress  then  addressed  a  circular  to  each  of  the  states,  inform 
ing  them  of  this  resolution,  and  calling  upon  them  to  give  all  pos 
sible  aid  in  raising  such  levies  as  the  general  should  direct,  and 
sending  them  with  all  possible  despatch  to  head-quarters. 

These  proceedings  were  communicated  to  Washington  on  the 
night  of  the  31st  of  December,  and,  on  the  next  day,  he  replied  as 
follows : 

«  The  confidence  which  Congress  have  honoured  me  with  by 
these  proceedings,  has  a  claim  to  my  warmest  acknowledgments. 
At  the  same  time,  I  beg  leave  to  assure  them,  that  all  my  faculties 
shall  be  employed  to  direct  properly  the  powers  they  have  been 
pleased  to  vest  me  with,  and  to  advance  those  objects,  and  only 
those,  which  gave  rise  to  this  honourable  mark  of  distinction.  If 
my  exertions  should  not  be  attended  with  the  desired  success,  I 
trust  the  failure  will  be  imputed  to  the  true  cause,  the  peculiarly 
distressed  situation  of  our  affairs,  and  the  difficulties  I  have  to 
combat,  rather  than  to  a  want  of  zeal  for  my  country,  and  the  clo 
sest  attention  to  her  interest,  to  promote  which,  has  ever  been  my 
study." 

Before  these  Congressional  proceedings,  however,  Washington 
had  commenced  active  warfare.  By  the  arrival  of  the  troops  under 
Sullivan  and  Gates,  the  army  was  increased  to  seven  thousand  men. 
It  was  stationed  on  the  Pennsylvania  side  of  the  Delaware,  near 
the  falls  of  Trenton  ;  while  the  British  army,  secure  in  its  superior 
numbers,  was  cantoned  in  Burlington,  Bordentown,  Trenton,  and 
other  towns,  in  New  Jersey.  General  Howe  seemed  to  be  waiting 
patiently  until  the  ice,  which  is  generally  strong  enough  at  that 
period  of  the  year,  should  supply  his  want  of  boats,  and  enable 
his  army  to  cross  to  victory,  and  the  comfortable  winter  quarters 
which  he  expected  to  find  in  Philadelphia.  Their  situation  in  New 
Jersey  was  not  as  comfortable  as  they  wished,  nor  as  it  had  been 
when  they  first  entered  that  province.  The  Hessians  had  indulged 
in  such  wanton  cruelty  and  open  licentiousness,  that  the  friendship 
which  many  of  the  inhabitants  were  inclined  to  show  them,  was 
now  changed  to  enmity,  and  a  general  desire  for  revenge,  for  inju 
ries  and  atrocities  committed,  seemed  now  to  be  the  feeling  which 
predominated  in  that  state.  On  receiving  information  of  the  num 
bers  and  different  cantonments  of  the  British  troops,  Washington 
observed:  "Now  is  the  time  to  clip  their  wings  when  they  are  so 
spread ;"  and  he  resolved  to  make  a  bold  effort  to  check  their 


264  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

progress.  For  this  purpose,  he  formed  the  bold  design  of  recross- 
ing  the  Delaware,  and  attacking  the  Hessian  troops,  which,  to  the 
number  of  fifteen  hundred,  were  posted  at  Trenton. 

He  formed  his  troops  into  three  divisions,  with  orders  simulta 
neously  to  pass  the  Delaware  at  three  different  places,  on  the  even 
ing  of  the  25th  of  December,  hoping  to  surprise  the  enemy  after  the 
festivities  of  Christmas.  One  division,  under  General  Cadwallader, 
was  to  cross  the  river  in  the  vicinity  of  Bristol,  but  failed  through 
inattention  to  the  state  of  the  tide  and  of  the  river,  as  they  could 
not  land  on  account  of  the  heaps  of  ice  accumulated  on  the  Jersey 
bank.  The  second  division,  under  General  Ewing,  was  to  cross 
at  Trenton  ferry,  but  \vas  unable  to  make  its  way  through  the  ice. 
The  third,  and  main  division,  under  the  command  of  Washington 
in  person,  assisted  by  General  Sullivan,  and  Greene,  and  Colonel 
Knox  of  the  artillery,  consisting  of  about  twenty-four  hundred 
men,  accomplished  the  passage,  with  great  difficulty,  at  McKonkey's, 
about  nine  miles  above  Trenton.  The  general  had  expected  to 
reach  the  Jersey  shore  about  midnight,  and  Trenton  about  five  in 
the  morning.  But  the  difficulties  arising  from  the  accumulation  of 
the  ice  were  so  great,  that  it  was  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  before 
the  artillery  could  all  be  got  over,  and  nearly  four,  before  the  troops 
took  up  their  line  of  march.  He  subdivided  his  detachment  into 
two  divisions,  one  of  which,  under  General  Sullivan,  proceeded 
towards  Trenton  by  the  lower  or  river  road,  while  the  other,  led 
by  the  commander-in-chief,  took  the  upper  or  Pennington  road. 

Washington's  division  reached  the  Hessian  advanced  posts  at 
eight  o'clock,  which  he  instantly  drove  in  ;  and  so  equal  had  been 
the  progress  of  the  columns,  that  in  three  minutes  afterwards,  the 
firing  on  the  river  road  announced  the  arrival  of  the  other  division. 
The  advanced  guards  fell  back  in  good  order,  keeping  up  a  con 
tinual  fire,  which  effectually  alarmed  their  comrades.  Colonel  Rahl, 
the  commander,  a  very  gallant  officer,  immediately  drew  out  his 
forces  in  order,  and  prepared  for  a  brave  defence ;  but  early  in  the 
engagement  he  received  a  mortal  wound,  and  his  men,  being  severely 
galled  by  the  American  artillery,  attempted  to  file  off  towards 
Princeton,  but  were  checked  by  a  body  of  troops  thrown  in  their 
way.  About  six  hundred  escaped  by  the  road  leading  to  Borden- 
town.  The  remainder,  finding  themselves  completely  surrounded, 
and  their  artillery  seized,  laid  down  their  arms  and  surrendered. 
The  number  which  submitted  was  twenty-three  officers,  and  eight 
hundred  and  eighty-six  men.  Between  thirty  and  forty  of  the 
Hessians  were  killed  and  wounded.  Colonel  Rahl  was  among  the 


BATTLE    OF    TRENTON.  267 

former,  and  several  of  his  officers  among  the  latter.  Captain 
Washington,  of  the  Virginia  troops,  and  five  or  six  of  the  Ameri 
cans  were  wounded.  Two  were  killed,  and  two  or  three  were 
frozen  to  death.  Had  not  the  extreme  severity  of  the  weather  for 
bidden  the  other  divisions  to  cross  the  Delaware,  the  result  of  this 
masterly  stroke  would  doubtless  have  been  to  sweep  away  the 
British  from  all  their  posts  on  the  Delaware,  and  thus  establish  a 
firm  footing  in  the  Jerseys.  As  it  was,  the  general  concluded  for 
the  time  to  forbear  further  aggressions,  and  recrossed  the  river  with 
his  prisoners,  six  pieces  of  artillery,  a  thousand  stand  of  arms,  and 
some  valuable  military  stores. 

The  effect  of  this  victory  was  sudden  and  decisive.  The  spirits 
of  the  army  revived,  and  with  new  confidence  arose  a  new  impulse. 
Those  whose  term  of  service  was  within  four  days  of  expiring, 
volunteered  to  continue  ;  and  reinforcements  began  to  arrive  from 
the  neighbouring  towns  of  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey.  The 
rapine  and  dissoluteness  of  the  British  army,  backed  as  it  was  by 
the  daring  of  Washington,  spurred  to  action  all  that  there  was  of 
heart  or  virtue  in  the  land.  Washington,  availing  himself  of  every 
circumstance,  quickened  by  such  inspiring  auguries,  made  a  rapid 
provision  for  securing  his  prisoners,  and  in  two  days  wras  again 
buffeting,  as  best  he  could,  the  sweeping  waters  of  the  Delaware 
with  its  burden  of  ice.  He  again  marched  to  Trenton,  and  ordered 
Generals  Mifrlin  and  Cadwallader  to  join  him  on  the  1st  of  January, 
1777  ;  by  whom  his  force  was  on  that  day  increased  to  five  thou 
sand  men.  His  plan  was  now  to  recover  as  much  as  possible  of 
the  territory  which  the  British  had  overrun. 

The  astonishment  of  the  British  general  at  this  display  of  valour 
and  enterprise  in  an  army,  which,  in  the  midst  of  indigence  and 
suffering,  had  been  for  weeks  retiring,  or  rather  flying,  before  his 
superior  force,  may  be  readily  imagined.  It  taught  him  a  useful 
lesson.  He  found  that  nothing  short  of  absolute  extermination 
would  make  them  cease  to  be  dangerous  to  him,  and  hostile  to  the 
government  which  he  represented.  Though  in  the  depth  of  a 
severe  winter,  he  found  it  necessary  to  recommence  active  opera 
tions,  and  Lord  Cornwallis,  who  was  on  the  point  of  sailing  for 
England,  was  ordered  to  leave  New  York  and  resume  his  command 
in  the  Jerseys.  A  combination  of  the  different  detachments  of  the 
British  army  was  the  instantaneous  result.  By  rapid  movements, 
impelled  by  revenge,  they  concentrated  upon  Trenton,  where  they 
arrived  on  the  afternoon  of  the  2d  of  January,  1777. 

Washington,  with  his  inferior  force,  drew  up  his  men  behind 


268  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

Assumpinck  Creek,  a  narrow  stream  running  through  the  town  of 
Trenton.  The  contending  forces  thus  occupied  the  same  village  ; 
both  were  posted  on  sloping  ground,  and  were  divided  only  by  a  creek, 
in  many  places  fordable.  This,  Cornwallis  attempted  to  cross  at 
several  places,  but  the  vigilance  of  the  guard  frustrated  his  attempts, 
and  he  commenced  a  furious  cannonade,  which  was  deliberately 
returned  by  the  Americans.  The  British,  satisfied  of  their  strength 
and  security,  were  the  first  to  desist;  certain  of  engaging  in  a  more 
decisive  conflict  at  the  dawn  of  the  next  day.  But  soon  after  mid 
night,  General  Washington  silently  decamped,  leaving  his  fires 
burning,  his  sentinels  advanced,  and  small  parties  to  guard  the 
fords  of  the  rivulet,  and,  by  a  circuitous  route,  proceeded  towards 
Princeton. 

It  was  the  most  inclement  season  of  the  year,  but  the  weather 
favoured  his  movement.  For  two  days  before,  it  had  been  warm, 
soft,  and  foggy;  and  great  apprehensions  were  entertained,  lest,  by 
the  depth  of  the  roads,  it  should  be  found  impossible  to  transport 
the  baggage  and  artillery  with  the  requisite  celerity  ;  but  about  the 
time  the  troops  began  to  move,  (one  o'clock  in  the  morning  of 
January  3d,)  a  sudden  change  in  the  weather  happened.  The  wind 
shifted  to  the  north-west,  while  the  council  of  war,  which  was  to 
decide  on  the  ulterior  operations,  was  sitting.  An  intense  frost  set 
in,  and,  instead  of  being  obliged  to  struggle  through  a  miry  road, 
the  army  marched  as  on  a  solid  pavement.  The  common  soldiers 
considered  the  change  of  weather  as  an  interposition  of  Heaven  in 
their  behalf,  and  proceeded  on  their  way  with  alacrity. 

General  Cornwallis,  in  his  rapid  march  towards  Trenton,  had 
left  three  regiments,  under  Lieutenant-colonel  Mawhood,  at  Prince 
ton  ;  with  orders  to  advance  on  the  3d  of  the  month,  to  Maiden 
head,  a  village  about  halfway  between  Princeton  and  Trenton. 
General  Washington  approached  Princeton  towards  daybreak,  and 
shortly  before  that  time,  Colonel  Mawhood's  detachment  had  begun 
to  advance  towards  Maidenhead,  by  a  road  a  little  to  the  left  of 
that  on  which  the  Americans  were  marching.  A  small  detached 
British  guard  discovered  the  advancing  columns,  and  prevented  a 
surprise.  The  British  rushed  forward,  and  a  smart  engagement 
instantly  ensued.  The  Americans  in  the  first  shock  quailed,  and 
the  head  of  the  column  fell  back  in  disorder.  The  general  hurried 
to  the  spot,  broke  through  the  mass  of  retreating  men,  and  stood 
between  pursuers  and  pursued — his  horse's  head  towards  the  for 
mer.  This  daring  aroused  the  Americans  to  a  sense  of  their  duty. 
They  wheeled  about  and  met  their  assailants ;  both  fired  while 


BATTLE    OF    PRINCETON.  269 

Washington  stood  between  them  ;  but,  by  a  remarkable  interpo 
sition  of  Providence,  he  remained  unhurt.  The  conflict  immedi 
ately  became  general ;  the  Americans  rushing  headlong  with  the 
most  desperate  fury  against  the  enemy,  and  the  British  defend 
ing  themselves  with  equal  obstinacy.  The  issue,  however,  did 
not  long  remain  doubtful.  A  party  of  the  British  fled  into  the 
college,  and  the  seat  of  the  muses  became  the  scene  of  action ;  but, 
after  receiving  a  few  discharges  from  the  American  field-pieces,  they 
came  out  and  surrendered  themselves  prisoners  of  war.  Of  the 
British,  sixty  were  killed,  among  whom  was  Captain  Leslie,  son  of 
the  Earl  of  Leven;  a  great  number  were  wounded,  and  about  three 
hundred  taken  prisoners.  The  remainder  made  their  escape,  some 
by  pushing  on  to  Trenton,  others  by  returning  to  Brunswick.  The 
Americans  had  fewer  men  killed;  but  in  this  number  was  included 
General  Mercer,  a  Scotch  soldier  who  brought  to  the  service  of 
America  a  sterling  devotion  and  rare  abilities. 

On  the  appearance  of  daylight,  General  Corrrvvallis  discovered 
that  the  American  army  had  again  eluded  his  grasp,  and  the  firing, 
which  he  soon  afterwards  heard  in  the  direction  of  Princeton, 
revealed  to  him  at  once  the  plans  which  had  been  formed  by 
Washington.  The  rapidity,  success,  and  skill  of  the  American 
evolutions  filled  his  officers  with  a  kind  of  awe.  His  fears  were 
instantly  excited  for  the  safety  of  Brunswick,  where  magazines  of 
great  value  had  been  collected.  Breaking  up  his  camp,  he  ad 
vanced  with  rapidity  towards  that  place,  and  was  close  on  the  rear 
of  the  American  army  before  they  could  leave  Princeton. 

General  Washington  now  again  found  himself  in  a  very  perilous 
situation.  His  small  army  was  exhausted  with  extreme  fatigue, 
having  been  without  rest,  and  almost  without  food  for  two  days 
and  two  nights.  He  wras  closely  pursued  by  an  enemy,  very  supe 
rior  in  point  of  numbers,  well  clothed,  not  harassed  by  want  of 
sleep,  and  who  must  necessarily  overtake  him  before  he  could 
accomplish  his  designs  on  Brunswick,  if  the  least  opposition  should 
there  be  offered  to  him.  Under  these  circumstances,  he  wisely 
determined  to  resume  his  Fabian  policy,  and  abandon  the  remain 
ing  part  of  his  original  design.  Accordingly,  he  took  the  road 
leading  up  the  country  to  Pluckemin,  breaking  down  the  bridges 
over  Millstone  Creek,  arid  otherwise  opposing  obstacles  to  the  pur 
suit  of  the  enemy.  Cornwallis,  without  attempting  a  pursuit  of 
the  retreating  army,  hastened  to  Brunswick,  where  he  arrived  the 
same  day,  and  found  that  every  exertion  had  been  made  for  the 
removal  of  the  baggage  and  the  defence  of  the  place. 

z  2 


270  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

On  that  retrograde  march,  notwithstanding  its  rapidity,  the  British 
began  to  reap  the  harvest  of  their  own  insolence  and  rapacity. 
Such  had  been  the  brutalities  practised  by  them,  that,  with  the  first 
ebb  of  their  prosperity,  rolled  upon  them  the  swift  vengeance  of 
those  whom  they  had  wantonly  outraged.  Th^  militia  of  Jersey, 
its  husbandmen  and  labourers,  hung  upon  the  steps  of  the  retiring 
troops,  and  on  every  possible  opportunity,  wreaked  full  vengeance 
on  the  stragglers,  for  the  insults,  injustice,  and  oppression  which 
had  been  meted  out  to  them. 

After  resting  a  few  days  at  Pluckemin,  General  Washington  fell 
back  to  Morristown,  which  is  situated  among  hills  difficult  of 
access,  having  a  fine  country  in  the  rear,  and  otherwise  well  situated 
for  keeping  open  the  communications  with  the  New  England  states 
on  the  one  side,  and  Philadelphia  and  Congress  on  the  other. 

From  this  point,  as  his  centre  of  operations,  though  it  has  been 
called  his  winter-quarters,  he  threw  out  detachments  which  overran 
East  and  West  Jersey,  crossed  the  Raritan,  and  penetrated  into 
the  county  of  Essex,  where  they  took  possession  of  the  coast  oppo 
site  Staten  Island.  With  a  greatly  inferior  army,  by  judicious 
movements  he  thus  wrested  from  the  British  almost  all  their  con 
quests  in  the  Jerseys.  Brunswick  and  Amboy  were  the  only 
posts  remaining  in  their  hands,  and  even  in  them  they  were  not  a 
little  harassed  and  straitened.  The  American  detachments  were 
thus  in  a  state  of  constant  activity,  frequently  surprising  and  cutting 
off  the  British  advanced  guards,  keeping  them  in  perpetual  alarm, 
and  melting  down  their  numbers  by  a  desultory  and  indecisive 
warfare. 

The  successful  and  brilliant  enterprises  which  closed  the  cam 
paign  commenced  at  Long  Island,  at  once  raised  the  spirits  and 
stimulated  the  courage  of  the  Americans,  and  impressed  the  mind 
of  the  British  general  with  the  necessity  of  the  utmost  circumspec 
tion,  and  with  a  high  respect  for  the  military  talents  of  General 
Washington. 

The  favourable  effect  produced  on  the  minds  of  his  countrymen 
by  these  operations,  induced  General  Washington  to  issue  a  pro 
clamation,  for  the  purpose  of  counteracting  that  issued  by  General 
Howe.  This  was  a  seasonable  and  necessary  step.  Intimidated 
by  the  desperate  aspect  of  American  affairs  when  the  American 
army  retreated  into  Pennsylvania,  many  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Jerseys  had  taken  advantage  of  General  Howe's  proclamation, 
promising  them  protection  in  their  persons  and  property,  and  sub 
mitted  to  the  British  authority  ;  but  with  respect  to  the  promised 


w-'-i'-l 


':i:">;fc'' 


SUCCESSFUL    OPERATIONS.  273 

protection,  they  had  been  entirely  disappointed.  Instead  of  pro 
tection  and  conciliation,  they  had  been  insulted  by  the  rude  inso 
lence  of  a  licentious  soldiery,  and  plundered  with  indiscriminate 
and  unsparing  rapacity.  General  Washington's  proclamation 
accordingly  absolved  the  inhabitants  from  their  engagements  to 
Britain,  and  promising  them  protection  on  their  submission  to 
Congress.  Many  took  advantage  of  this  proclamation,  and  the 
militia  of  New  Jersey  afterwards  did  good  service  in  the  American 
cause. 

"Thus  terminated  the  eventful  campaign  of  1776,  which  wit 
nessed  the  heroic  defence  of  Charleston  in  the  south  ;  the  evacua 
tion  of  Canada  in  the  north ;  the  operations  of  Washington  in  the 
Middle  States,  first  at  the  head  of  a  respectable  force  in  Long 
Island ;  subsequently  defeated  there,  and  on  York  Island  ;  his 
soldiers  leaving  him  as  soon  as  their  terms  of  service  had  expired ; 
retreating  through  New  Jersey,  with  what  Hamilton  has  called  the 
phantom  of  an  army  ;  compelled  to  cross  the  Delaware  ;  turning, 
when  it  was  confidently  expected  by  the  British  that  all  his  army 
would  be  disbanded,  and  inflicting  severe  wounds  on  their  widely 
scattered  forces  ;  and,  in  the  end,  acting  on  the  offensive,  and 
hunting  them  from  place  to  place,  until  they  are  cooped  up  in  New 
York,  Amboy,  and  Brunswick.  True,  the  British  had  taken  pos 
session  of  Rhode  Island ;  but  it  was  of  no  advantage  to  them  yet, 
nor  at  any  period  of  the  war ;  and  they  were  compelled  to  weaken 
their  armies  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  a  garrison  there.  And 
finally,  notwithstanding  the  joy  of  the  British  at  the  capture  of 
General  Lee,  the  effects  which  they  anticipated  were  not  pro 
duced  on  the  American  people  ;  and  subsequent  events  showed 
them  conclusively  that  they  had  not  captured  the  American  Pal 
ladium." 

The  success  of  Washington  in  the  Jerseys  enabled  Congress  to 
return  to  Philadelphia  in  the  month  of  February.  In  the  mean 
time,  they  had  set  in  motion  elsewhere  agencies  favourable  to 
America.  Convinced  of  the  necessity  of  foreign  relations,  they 
resolved  that  commissioners  should  at  once  be  sent  to  the  courts 
of  Spain,  Vienna,  Prussia,  and  Tuscany.  The  uneasiness,  pride, 
jealousy,  and  hatred  of  England  manifested  by  France,  excited 
their  strongest  hopes.  They  used  every  means  in  their  power  to 
gain  and  cultivate  the  friendship  of  that  great  nation.  They  ap 
pointed  Benjamin  Franklin,  Silas  Deane,  and  Arthur  Lee,  com 
missioners  to  negotiate  at  Paris  the  preliminaries  of  friendly  rela 
tions  between  the  two  countries.  Mr.  Deane  had  already  been 
35 


274  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

some  time  in  Paris,  and  had  had  audiences  of  the  foreign  minister, 
but  was  unable  to  effect  any  thing  decisive.  By  great  exertions, 
and  after  many  difficulties,  he  concluded  an  agreement  with  a 
French  merchant,  M.  Beaumarchais,  to  ship  for  the  United  States 
clothing  for  twenty  thousand  men,  thirty  thousand  muskets,  one 
hundred  tons  of  powder,  two  hundred  brass  cannon,  twenty-four 
mortars,  and  a  large  quantity  of  military  stores  of  all  kinds.  He 
undertook  to  supply  these  on  credit,  accepting  Mr.  Deane's  security 
as  the  agent  of  Congress.  Many  obstacles  interfered  to  prevent 
the  transportation  of  these  stores.  The  remonstrances  of  the  Eng 
lish  minister,  who  kept  spies  on  all  the  ports,  constituted  the  chief 
difficulty.  At  length,  Beaumarchais  was  able  to  despatch  one 
vessel  from  Havre  in  the  beginning  of  November.  She  arrived  in 
New  Hampshire  in  the  following  April,  deeply  needed,  and  loudly 
welcomed,  as  bearing  a  large  supply  of  arms,  ammunition,  and 
clothing,  for  the  opening  campaign. 

Mr.  Deane  had  also  undertaken  and  concluded  another  negotia 
tion  of  far  more  brilliant  results.  The  young  and  adventurous 
Marquis  de  Lafayette  proposed  to  him  to  volunteer  his  services,  on 
the  sole  condition  of  obtaining  the  rank  of  a  brigadier-general  in 
the  republican  army.  The  proposal  was  acceded  to,  and  the  name 
and  sword  of  Lafayette  soon  shed  glory,  destined  to  be  lasting,  on 
the  War  of  Liberty. 

Early  in  December,  Franklin  and  Lee  arrived  in  Paris,  to  asso 
ciate  their  address  and  ability  with  Mr.  Deane,  in  obtaining  the 
support,  or  at  least  the  recognition  of  the  court  of  Versailles. 
Hesitating  assurances  and  equivocal  promises  were,  however,  all 
that  could  be  then  obtained.  The  commissioners,  more  than  ever 
convinced  that  it  is  mature  determination,  aided  by  action  and  suc 
cess,  that  can  alone  procure  the  sympathy  and  support  of  great 
powers,  turned  their  thoughts  elsewhere.  They  were  even  induced 
to  dissuade  from  his  purpose  the  generous  young  warrior,  who  was 
about  to  peril  life,  fortune,  and  fame,  in  a  sinking  cause,  by  repre 
senting  to  him  that  the  scattered  forces  of  America  were  flying 
through  their  native  forests  before  the  victorious  and  avenging 
army  of  England.  But  he  was  not  to  be  disconcerted.  At  his 
own  cost,  he  purchased  a  vessel  to  bear  him  from  the  land  where 
he  was  born  to  greatness,  that  he  might  share  in  the  success  or  fall 
of  a  weak,  struggling  people.  In  early  spring,  he  gained  the 
country  of  his  ambition,  and,  with  the  rank  of  major-general,  joined 
Washington's  army. 

Another  illustrious  name,  too,  graced  that  muster-roll  of  war- 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   ANOTHER    CAMPAIGN.     275 

riors — Count  Pulaski,  the  gallant  Pole,  \vho,  in  the  face  of  a  Rus 
sian  army,  bore  away  the  miserable  monarch  of  his  nation  to  reign 
over  a  free  people.  But  Stanislaus  was  unworthy  of  the  crown  and 
the  nation ;  and  his  deliverer  now  did  battle  in  a  better  cause,  and 
under  happier  auspices. 

The  British  ministry,  in  the  mean  time,  became  conscious  of  the 
wavering  of  France  ;  they  saw  dark  heavy  clouds  on  the  political 
horizon,  and  they  began  to  prepare  for  the  swiftly  coming  storm. 
A  large  increase  was  made  in  both  the  army  and  navy,  and  on  the 
assembling  of  Parliament,  on  the  31st  of  October,  1776,  the  king,  in 
his  speech  from  the  throne,  stated  to  them  that  it  would  have  given 
him  much  satisfaction  to  be  able  to  inform  them  that  the  disturb 
ances  in  the  revolted  colonies  were  at  an  end,  and  that  the  people 
of  America,  recovering  from  their  delusion,  had  returned  to  their 
duty.  Instead  of  this,  however,  so  mutinous  and  determined  was 
the  spirit  of  their  leaders,  that  they  had  openly  abjured  and  re 
nounced  all  connection  and  communication  with  the  mother  coun 
try,  and  had  rejected  every  conciliatory  proposition.  Much  mis 
chief,  he  said,  would  accrue,  not  only  to  the  commerce  of  Great 
Britain,  but  to  the  general  system  of  Europe,  if  this  treason  were 
suffered  to  take  root.  The  conduct  of  the  colonies  would  convince 
every  one  of  the  necessity  of  the  measures  proposed  to  be  adopted, 
and  the  past  success  of  the  British  arms  pron.ised  the  happiest 
results;  but  preparations  must  be  promptly  made  for  another  cam 
paign.  He  expressed  a  hope  of  the  general  continuance  of  tran 
quillity  in  Europe,  but,  at  the  same  time,  he  thought  it  advisable  to 
increase  the  defensive  resources  at  home. 

The  replies  to  the  speech  were  in  the  usual  form,  but  amend 
ments  were  moved  in  both  houses  of  parliament.  After  a  violent 
debate,  in  which  the  animosity  of  party  was  more  discernible 
than  any  thing  else,  the  amendment  was  rejected,  two  hundred 
and  forty-two  to  eighty-seven,  and  ninety-one  to  twenty-six. 
During  the  session  of  parliament,  some  other  attempts  were  made 
for  adopting  conciliatory  measures  ;  but  the  influence  of  the  min 
istry  was  so  powerful  that  they  were  all  completely  defeated,  and 
the  plans  of  the  administration  received  the  approbation  and  sup 
port  of  parliament. 

Forty-five  thousand  seamen  wrere  ordered  to  be  raised  ;  sixteen 
ships  of  war  to  be  built ;  and  between  six  and  seven  millions  of 
pounds  sterling  were  voted  for  the  expenses  of  the  army  and  navy 
during  the  coming  year.  Parliament  then  adjourned  on  the  13th 
of  December,  to  meet  again  on  the  21st  of  January,  1777. 


276 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


BE  AD-QUART2R3     AT     MORRI3TOWN. 


CHAPTER    XV. 


HE  period  while  he  was  in  winter  quar 
ters  at  Morristown,  was  passed  by  Gene 
ral  Washington  in  making  every  exertion 
for  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  coming 
campaign.  He  urged  Congress  to  ap 
point  an  additional  number  of  general 
officers  ;  he  wrote  to  the  governors  of 
the  different  states,  urging  them  to  raise 
and  forward  to  head-quarters,  with  as 
much  despatch  as  possible,  the  quotas  of 
troops  assigned  to  their  respective  states  ; 
and  at  the  same  time  he  carried  on  a  correspondence  with  General 
Howe,  relating  to  exchange  of  prisoners.  In  February,  at  his 
earnest  request,  Congress  appointed  five  additional  major-generals, 


or  THE 
UNIVERSITY 


TREATMENT    OF    PRISONERS.  279 

and  ten  brigadiers.  He  was  not  as  successful  in  his  applications 
to  the  states,  for  we  find  that  on  the  9th  of  June,  he  could  muster 
no  more  than  seven  thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy-one  men 
fit  for  duty.  Before  the  capture  of  General  Lee,  it  had  been  agreed 
between  Generals  Washington  and  Howre,  that  their  prisoners 
should  be  exchanged  officer  for  officer  of  equal  rank,  soldier  for 
soldier,  and  citizen  for  citizen,  but  affecting  to  consider  General 
Lee  a  deserter  from  the  British  army,  in  which  he  had  formerly 
held  a  lieutenant-colonel's  commission,  he  was  treated  with  great 
severity,  the  commander  refusing  to  exchange  him,  even  for  six 
officers,  and  threatening  to  bring  him  before  a  court-martial,  to 
answrer  the  crime  of  desertion.  When  intelligence  of  this  conduct 
was  received  by  Congress,  they  passed  a  resolution  declaring  that 
Lieutenant-colonel  Campbell,  who  had  been  captured  in  the  bay 
of  Boston,  together  with  five  Hessian  field-officers,  should  be  de 
tained,  in  order  that  the  treatment  which  General  Lee  should  receive 
might  be  exactly  inflicted  upon  their  persons.  A  copy  of  their 
resolution  was  sent  to  the  council  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  they 
were  desired  to  detain  Lieutenant-colonel  Campbell  and  keep  him 
in  close  custody  till  the  further  orders  of  Congress.  Hitherto,  this 
officer  had  been  treated  civilly,  but  on  receiving  the  order  of  Con 
gress,  the  council  of  Massachusetts  Bay  sent  him  to  Concord  jail, 
and  lodged  him  in  a  filthy  cell,  denying  him  even  the  privilege  of 
wyalking  about  the  prison-yard,  and  neither  permitting  the  visits  of 
his  friends  nor  the  attendance  of  a  servant. 

Colonel  Campbell,  naturally  conceiving  that  this  rigorous  treat 
ment  originated  in  some  mistake  of  the  local  council,  complained 
in  dignified,  but  respectful  terms,  to  General  Washington,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  sent  through  the  Massachusetts  council  a  statement 
of  his  treatment  to  General  Howre.  Washington  immediately 
wrote  to  the  council,  enclosing  them  an  extract  of  the  colonel's 
letter,  and  the  resolution  of  Congress  respecting  Colonel  Campbell. 
Alluding  to  this  resolution,  he  wrote  :  "  By  this  you  will  observe, 
that  exactly  the  same  treatment  is  to  be  shown  to  Colonel  Campbell 
and  the  Hessian  officers,  that  General  Howre  shows  to  General 
Lee  ;  and  as  he  is  only  confined  to  a  commodious  house,  with 
genteel  accommodations,  we  have  no  right  or  reason  to  be  more 
severe  upon  Colonel  Campbell,  who,  I  would  wish,  should  imme 
diately,  upon  the  receipt  of  this,  be  removed  from  his  present  situa 
tion,  and  put  into  a  house  where  he  may  live  comfortably." 

On  the  next  day,  March  1st,  he  wrote  to  the  President  of  Con 
gress  a  strenuous  remonstrance  against  this  hasty  and  premature 


280  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

attempt  at  retaliation.  "Retaliation,"  he  said,  "is  certainly  just, 
and  sometimes  necessary,  even  where  attended  with  the  severest 
penalties ;  but,  when  the  evils  which  may  and  must  result  from  it 
exceed  those  intended  to  be  redressed,  prudence  and  policy  require 
that  it  should  be  avoided. 

"From  the  best  information  I  have  been  able  to  obtain,  General 
Lee's  usage  has  not  been  so  disgraceful  and  dishonourable  as  to 
authorize  the  treatment  decreed  to  those  gentlemen,  were  it  not 
prohibited  by  many  other  important  considerations.  His  confine 
ment,  I  believe,  has  been  more  rigorous  than  has  been  generally 
experienced  by  the  rest  of  our  officers,  or  those  of  the  enemy,  who 
have  been  in  our  possession ;  but,  if  the  reports  received  on  that 
head  be  true,  he  has  been  provided  with  a  decent  apartment,  and 
with  most  things  necessary  to  render  him  comfortable.  This  is 
not.ihe  case  with  one  of  the  officers  comprehended  in  the  resolves, 
if  his  letter,  of  which  a  copy  is  transmitted,  deserves  your  credit. 
Here  retaliation  seems  to  have  been  prematurely  begun  ;  or,  to 
speak  with  more  propriety,  severities  have  been  and  are  exercised 
towards  Colonel  Campbell,  not  justified  by  any  that  General  Lee 
has  yet  received. 

"In  point  of  policy,  under  the  present  situation  of  our  affairs, 
this  doctrine  cannot  be  supported.  The  balance  of  prisoners  is 
greatly  against  us  ;  and  a  general  regard  to  the  happiness  of  the 
whole  should  mark  our  conduct.  Can  we  imagine,  that  our  ene 
mies  will  not  mete  the  punishments,  the  same  indignities,  the  same 
cruelties,  to  those  belonging  to  us  in  their  possession,  that  we  im 
pose  on  theirs  in  our  power  ?  Why  should  we  suppose  them  to 
possess  more  humanity  than  we  have  ourselves  ?  Or  why  should 
an  ineffectual  attempt  to  relieve  the  distresses  of  one  brave,  unfor 
tunate  man,  involve  many  more  in  the  same  calamities  ?  However 
disagreeable  the  fact  may  be,  the  enemy  at  this  time  have  in  their 
power,  and  subject  to  their  call,  near  three  hundred  officers  belong 
ing  to  the  army  of  the  United  States.  In  this  number  there  are 
some  of  high  rank ;  and  most  of  them  are  men  of  bravery  and 
merit.  The  quota  of  theirs  in  our  hands  bears  no  proportion,  being 
not  more  than  fifty  at  most.  Under  these  circumstances  we  should 
certainly  do  no  act  to  draw  upon  the  gentlemen  belonging  to  us, 
and  who  have  already  suffered  a  long  captivity,  greater  punish 
ments  than  they  have  experienced  and  now  experience.  If  we 
should,  what  will  their  feelings  be,  and  those  of  their  numerous 
and  extensive  connexions  ?  Suppose  the  treatment  prescribed  for 
the  Hessians  should  be  pursued,  will  it  not  establish  what  the 


TREATMENT    OF    PRISONERS.        .  281 

enemy  have  been  aiming  to  effect  by  every  artifice  and  the  grossest 
misrepresentations  ;  I  mean,  an  opinion  of  our  enmity  towards  them, 
and  of  the  cruel  conduct  they  experience  when  they  fall  into  our 
hands — a  prejudice  which  we  on  our  part  have  heretofore  thought 
it  politic  to  suppress,  and  to  root  out  by  every  act  of  lenity  and 
kindness  ?  It  certainly  will.  The  Hessians  would  hear  of  the 
punishment  with  all  the  circumstances  of  heightened  exaggeration, 
would  feel  the  injury  without  investigating  the  cause,  or  reasoning 
upon  the  justice  or  necessity  of  it.  The  mischiefs  which  may,  and 
must  inevitably  flow  from  the  execution  of  the  resolves,  appear  to 
be  endless  and  innumerable." 

While  the  American  general  was  thus  advocating  the  cause  of 
humanity,  the  soldiers  who  were  captured  at  Fort  Washington 
were  confined  during  the  winter  in  New  York,  ill-lodged  and  badly 
fed.  The  provisions  which  they  received  were  deficient  in  qj^an- 
tity,  and  of  the  wrorst  quality.  Many  of  them  died  of  cold  and 
hunger,  and  diseases  contracted  by  being  confined  in  close  and 
unhealthy  situations.  Thus  ungenerously  treated,  and  driven 
almost  to  desperation,  large  bounties  and  tempting  offers  were  held 
out  to  others  to  induce  them  to  enlist  in  the  British  service,  but 
they  generally  remained  faithful  to  their  country  and  their  engage 
ments  under  all  their  privations  and  sufferings.  In  the  spring, 
General  Howe  sent  some  of  them  out  for  exchange,  but  they  were 
so  emaciated  and  sickly,  so  totally  unfit  for  service  in  the  field  or 
camp,  that  General  Washington  refused  to  release  an  equal  number 
of  healthy  British  and  Hessian  prisoners,  and  such  had  been  the 
good  treatment  received  by  them,  that  but  few  sick  could  be  found. 
General  Howe  said  that  the  refusal  of  the  American  general  to 
exchange  prisoners  was  a  violation  of  the  rule  mutually  agreed  on 
between  them  ;  and  though  he  could  not  deny  the  facts,  he  con 
tended  that  the  prisoners  wrere  treated  as  well  as  his  circumstances 
would  permit,  and  so  far  from  being  barbarously  used,  they  were 
provided  with  every  thing  which  was  necessary,  and  which  their 
situation  as  prisoners  of  war  allowed.  Commissioners  had  been 
appointed  on  each  side  to  settle  the  matter,  but  they  could  not 
agree.  General  Washington  replied  : 

"You  must  be  sensible,  that  our  engagement,  as  well  as  all 
others  of  the  kind,  though  in  the  letter  it  expresses  only  an 
equality  of  rank  and  number,  as  the  rule  of  exchange  ;  yet  neces 
sarily  implies  a  regard  to  the  general  principles  of  mutual  compen 
sation  and  advantage.  This  is  inherent  in  its  nature,  is  the  voice 
of  reason,  and  no  stipulation  as  to  the  condition  in  which  prisoners 
36  2  A  2 


282  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

should  be  returned,  was  requisite.  Humanity  dictated  that  their 
treatment  should  be  such  as  their  health  and  comfort  demanded ; 
and,  where  her  laws  have  been  duly  respected,  their  condition  has 
been  generally  good.  Nor  is  this  the  language  of  humanity  alone; 
justice  declares  the  same.  The  object  of  every  cartel,  or  similar 
agreement,  is  the  benefit  of  the  prisoners  themselves,  and  that  of 
the  contending  powers.  On  this  footing,  it  equally  exacts,  that 
they  should  be  well  treated,  as  well  as  that  they  should  be  ex 
changed.  The  reverse  is,  therefore,  an  evident  infraction,  and 
ought  to  subject  the  party,  on  whom  it  is  chargeable,  to  all  the 
damage  and  ill  consequences  resulting  from  it.  Nor  can  it  be 
expected,  that  those  unfitted  for  future  service  by  acts  of  severity, 
in  direct  violation  of  a  compact,  are  proper  subjects  for  an  ex 
change.  In  such  case,  to  return  others  not  in  the  same  predica 
ment,  would  be  to  give  without  receiving  an  equivalent ;  and 
would  afford  the  greatest  encouragement  to  cruelty  and  inhumanity. 
The  argument,  drawn  from  the  mere  circumstance  of  the  prisoners 
having  been  received,  is  of  no  validity.  Though,  from  their 
wretched  situation,  they  could  not,  at  that  time,  be  deemed  proper 
for  an  exchange,  yet  our  humanity  required  that  they  should  be 
permitted  to  return  among  us. 

"It  may,  perhaps,  be  fairly  doubted,  whether  an  apprehension 
of  their  death,  or  that  of  a  great  part  of  them,  did  not  contribute 
somewhat  to  their  being  sent  out  when  they  were. 

"Such  an  event,  whilst  they  remained  with  you,  would  have 
been  truly  interesting ;  because  it  would  have  destroyed  every 
shadow  of  claim  for  a  return  of  the  prisoners  in  our  hands,  and 
therefore,  policy,  concurring  with  humanity,  dictated  that  the 
measure  should  be  adopted.  Happy  had  it  been,  if  the  expe 
dient  had  been  thought  of  before  these  ill-fated  men  wrere  reduced 
to  such  extremity.  It  is  confessed,  however,  on  all  sides,  that, 
after  their  delivery,  they  still  continued  your  prisoners,  and  would 
be  so  till  regularly  exchanged. 

"I  acknowledge,  that  I  should,  and  I  have  been  always  willing, 
notwithstanding  this  concession,  to  account  for  every  man  who 
was  in  a  proper  condition  and  fit  to  be  exchanged  at  the  time  he 
came  out,  so  far  as  the  proportion  of  prisoners  with  us  would 
extend.  With  what  propriety,  or  upon  what  foundation  of  justice 
can  more  be  demanded  ?  This  has  been  proposed,  or,  what  is  the 
same,  was  most  clearly  implied  in  the  first  article  or  objection  made 
by  Lieutenant-colonel  Harrison,  and  illiberally  rejected  since,  <as 
inconsistent  with  any  degree  of  reason  or  common  sense.'  Painful 


OPENING    OF    THE    NEXT    CAMPAIGN.  283 

as  it  is,  I  am  compelled  to  consider  it  as  a  fact  not  to  be  ques 
tioned,  that  the  usage  of  our  prisoners  whilst  in  your  possession,  of 
the  privates  at  least,  was  such  as  could  not  be  justified.  This  was 
proclaimed  by  the  concurrent  testimony  of  all  who  came  out ;  their 
appearance  sanctioned  the  assertion ;  and  melancholy  experience, 
in  the  speedy  death  of  a  large  part  of  them,  stamped  it  with  infal 
lible  certainty." 

These  difficulties  continuing,  interrupted  the  free  exchange  of 
prisoners  until  near  the  middle  of  the  month  of  July,  when  an  officer 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Americans,  of  sufficient  rank  to  induce 
General  Howe  to  exchange  General  Lee  for  him.  This  removing 
one  ground  of  the  controversy  between  the  two  commanders,  and 
the  British  general  being  induced  to  pay  more  attention  to  the 
condition  of  his  prisoners,  the  causes  of  complaint  were  in  some 
measure  removed,  though  not  wholly  eradicated,  until  the  final 
conclusion  of  the  war. 

As  the  spring  opened,  General  Howe  remained  in  some  uncer 
tainty  with  respect  to  reinforcements  expected  from  Europe. 
Arriving,  as  they  did,  later,  and  in  smaller  numbers  than  had  been 
anticipated,  he  was  compelled,  though  he  could  number  four  times 
as  many  men  fit  for  duty  as  Washington,  to  remain  for  some  time 
in  comparative  inactivity ;  and,  when  the  season  for  action  could 
no  longer  be  safely  postponed,  he  was  obliged  to  curtail  the  plans 
which  he  had  formed  the  preceding  autumn. 

In  order  somewhat  to  remove  the  appearance  of  entire  idleness, 
he  determined  to  attempt  the  destruction  of  the  stores  collected  by 
the  Americans  at  Peekskill,  Danbury,  and  other  points  to  the  east 
ward.  Colonel  Bird,  with  five  hundred  men,  was  detached  against 
Peekskill  on  the  23d  of  March,  under  convoy  of  a  frigate,  two  ships, 
and  two  brigs,  and  some  smaller  armed  vessels.  The  place  was 
garrisoned  by  two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  under  General  McDou- 
gall,  who  receiving  timely  notice  of  the  approach  of  the  enemy, 
and  accurate  information  with  respect  to  their  numbers,  he  exerted 
himself  to  remove  the  stores  to  places  of  greater  safety  ;  but  before 
he  had  removed  them  all,  the  enemy  landed  with  four  pieces  of 
artillery,  and  he  retreated  to  the  hills  beyond  the  town,  giving  direc 
tions  for  destroying  such  stores  as  could  not  be  removed.  At  the  same 
time,  he  sent  an  express  to  Lieutenant-colonel  Willett,  ordering 
him  to  leave  a  subaltern's  command  at  Fort  Constitution,  and  inarch 
with  the  remainder  of  his  small  force  to  his  assistance.  The  British 
kept  possession  of  the  town  until  the  next  day,  when  they  sent  out 
a  detachment  to  take  possession  of  a  piece  of  high  ground  flanked 


284  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

by  a  wood  between  the  town  and  the  position  taken  by  General 
McDougall.  There,  in  the  afternoon,  they  were  attacked  by  Colonel 
Willett's  detachment,  and  a  smart  skirmish  ensued,  which  ended 
in  the  retreat  of  the  British  party  to  the  main  body.  In  the  even 
ing,  favoured  by  the  light  of  the  moon,  but  galjed  by  the  fire  of  the 
Americans,  the  whole  party  embarked,  and  returned  down  the  river. 
Nine  of  the  enemy  were  killed  or  wounded  in  the  skirmish  with 
Willett,  and  four  were  killed  at  the  creek,  while  attempting  to  set 
fire  to  the  boats.  The  Americans  had  one  man  mortally  wounded 
by  a  cannon-ball.  The  loss  of  provisions  and  stores  destroyed  by 
order  of  General  McDougall,  was  considerable,  and  in  this  way  the 
British  partly  succeeded  in  their  design. 

Another  expedition  was  projected  soon  after  against  Danbury, 
in  Connecticut,  where  a  considerable  amount  of  military  stores  had 
been  collected.  Though  this  place  was  within  twenty  miles  of  the 
Sound,  so  much  dependence  was  placed  on  the  neighbouring  militia, 
and  the  help  which  they  would  be  able  to  obtain  from  detachments 
passing  through  the  town  from  the  eastward,  that  no  regular  guard 
was  stationed  there  for  the  protection  of  the  stores.  There  were 
actually  but  fifty  regulars,  and  one  hundred  militia,  under  Colonel 
Huntington,  in  the  place,  when  the  British  made  their  appearance 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  26th  of  April.  They  numbered  two  thou 
sand  men,  and  were  commanded  by  Governor  Tryon,  who  had 
recently  been  appointed  major-general  of  the  provincials  in  the 
British  service.  Being  unable  to  make  any  effectual  resistance, 
Colonel  Huntington  carried  off  part  of  the  stores,  and  retired  from 
the  town.  General  Tryon  landed  his  army  of  tories  at  Campo, 
between  Fairfield  and  Norwalk.  Being  unexpected,  he  proceeded 
without  opposition  to  Danbury,  which,  with  the  stores  contained  in 
it,  they  set  on  fire  and  destroyed.  In  the  mean  time  the  alarm  had 
spread.  General  Silliman,  an  officer  of  the  Connecticut  militia, 
saw  the  landing,  called  together  as  many  men  as  he  could,  and 
the  same  evening  sent  forward  a  small  party,  who  came  upon  the 
enemy  and  had  a  smart  skirmish  with  their  advanced  guard.  The 
next  morning,  he  marched  in  pursuit  with  all  the  men  he  could 
muster.  Near  Reading,  he  was  joined  by  Generals  Arnold  and 
Wooster,  who  increased  his  numbers  to  six  hundred  men.  They 
proceeded  that  night  through  a  heavy  rain  to  Bethel,  about  eight 
miles  from  Danbury,  where,  hearing  that  the  town  was  destroyed, 
they  rested  their  weary  followers  till  daybreak.  Then,  hearing 
that  the  British  were  retreating  towards  the  coast,  they  divided 
their  forces,  and  Wooster,  with  two  hundred  men,  took  a  route  by 


SKIRMISHES    WITH    THE    BRITISH.  285 

which  he  might  harass  their  rear.  While  Arnold  and  Silliman, 
crossing  the  country,  took  post  in  their  front,  at  Ridgefield.  Gene 
ral  Wooster,  being  reinforced  by  Colonel  Huntington,  soon  fell  in 
with  the  rear  of  the  enemy,  and  in  a  skirmish  received  a  mortal 
wound.  When  Arnold  arrived  at  Ridgefield,  his  numbers  were 
increased  to  five  hundred.  Taking  a  position  across  the  road,  he 
threw  up  a  breastwork,  behind  which  he  awaited  the  approach  of 
the  enemy.  They  arrived  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  A 
smart  engagement  ensued,  which  continued  nearly  an  hour,  when 
Arnold  was  compelled  to  give  way ;  and  the  British  troops,  quite 
exhausted,  spent  the  night  on  their  arms  at  Ridgefield.  During 
this  engagement,  Arnold's  horse  was  killed  under  him,  and  he 
saved  himself  by  drawing  his  pistol  and  shooting  a  soldier,  who, 
having  discharged  his  musket,  was  rushing  upon  him  with  his 
bayonet. 

On  the  morning  of  the  28th,  the  British  renewed  their  retreat, 
but  they  were  immediately  assailed  by  an  irregular  but  destructive 
fire  of  musketry  from  houses,  and  from  behind  stone  fences.  Arnold 
being  joined  by  some  continental  artillery  and  infantry,  he  kept  up 
a  continual  skirmishing  and  cannonading  until  five  in  the  afternoon, 
when  the  enemy  reached  a  hill  near  their  ships,  and  made  a  des 
perate  stand.  The  Americans  charged  them  with  intrepidity,  but 
were  repulsed  by  superior  numbers.  The  British,  taking  advan 
tage  of  this,  re-embarked  in  haste  and  sailed  for  New  York. 
Nearly  four  hundred  of  the  British  were  killed,  wounded,  or  taken 
prisoners ;  while  the  loss  of  the  Americans  did  not  exceed  one- 
third  of  that  number.  The  loss  of  General  Wooster  was  severely 
felt,  and  Congress  ordered  a  monument  to  be  erected  to  his 
memory.  General  Arnold  also  deserved  and  obtained  the  thanks 
of  Congress.  They  resolved  that  a  horse  fully  caparisoned  should 
be  presented  to  him  in  place  of  the  one  shot  under  him  on  the 
27th,  and  another  which  had  been  wounded  by  a  ball  through  his 
neck  on  the  28th.  The  people  of  New  England  gave  no  encourage 
ment  to  the  repetition  of  these  hostile  visits. 

"The  British  troops  were  not  permitted  to  carry  on  their  sudden 
incursions  and  predatory  attacks  without  retaliation.  On  the  8th 
of  May,  General  Stevens,  with  a  considerable  force,  attacked  the 
British  post  at  Piscataway,  where  the  42d  regiment  was  stationed ; 
but,  after  a  furious  engagement,  he  was  repulsed.  A  considerable 
quantity  of  grain,  forage,  and  other  necessaries  for  the  use  of  the 
royal  army  were  collected  at  Sagg  Harbour  in  Long  Island,  where 
they  were  but  slightly  guarded,  as  the  number  of  British  cruisers 


286  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

in  the  Sound  seemed  to  secure  them  from  all  danger.  Of  these 
circumstances  the  American  General  Parsons  gained  information  ; 
and,  on  the  23d  of  May,  he  detached  Colonel  Meigs,  with  a  party 
of  one  hundred  and  seventy  men,  who  left  Guilford  in  Connecticut, 
at  one  o'clock  afternoon,  crossed  the  Sound  in  thirteen  whale  boats, 
attended  by  three  sloops ;  landed  on  the  north  part  of  the  island 
near  Southold,  at  six  o'clock  in  the  evening ;  carried  his  boats 
over  a  neck  of  land ;  re-embarked,  and  crossed  the  bay  between 
the  north  and  south  parts  of  the  island,  and,  at  twelve  o'clock  at 
night,  landed  within  four  miles  of  Sagg  Harbour.  Leaving  his 
boats  under  the  protection  of  a  slender  guard,  he  advanced  silently 
towards  the  place  of  destination,  began  the  attack  with  fixed 
bayonets.  The  alarm  soon  became  general,  and  a  discharge  of 
musketry  on  both  sides  ensued ;  but  the  Americans  succeeded  in 
burning  the  stores  and  twelve  vessels.  They  also  killed  six  men, 
took  ninety  prisoners,  and  only  six  of  the  party  who  guarded  the 
place  escaped.  Colonel  Meigs,  without  having  a  man  either  killed 
or  wounded,  returned  with  his  prisoners  to  Guilford,  where  he 
arrived  at  two  o'clock  on  the  24th  ;  having,  in  the  space  of  twenty- 
five  hours,  traversed  by  sea  and  land  no  less  than  ninety  miles. 

"\Vhen  mentioning  these  achievements  of  desultory  warfare,  I 
may  here  relate  another  enterprise  of  the  same  kind,  although  it 
did  not  happen  till  the  10th  of  July, — the  capture  of  General 
Prescott.  That  officer  was  commander  of  Rhode  Island,  and  had 
his  head-quarters  on  the  west  side  of  the  island,  near  Narraganset 
Bay,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  shore,  and  at  some  dis 
tance  from  any  body  of  troops.  He  was  but  slightly  guarded, 
trusting  chiefly  for  security  to  the  numerous  cruisers,  and  to  a 
guard  ship  which  lay  in  a  bay  opposite  to  his  quarters.  Colonel 
Barton,  at  the  head  of  forty  men,  officers  and  volunteers,  passed  by 
night  from  Warwick  Neck  to  Rhode  Island  ;  and  although  they 
had  a  passage  of  ten  miles  by  water,  yet,  by  keeping  near  the  land, 
they  eluded  the  vigilance  of  the  British  ships  of  war  and  guard 
boats  which  surrounded  the  island.  They  conducted  their  enter 
prise  with  such  silence  and  address,  that,  about  midnight,  they 
reached  the  general's  quarters  undiscovered,  secured  the  sentinel, 
surprised  the  general  in  bed,  and,  without  giving  him  time  to  put 
on  his  clothes,  hurried  him  on  board  with  one  of  his  aids- de-camp, 
and  conveyed  him  safely  to  Providence.  This  event  was  very 
mortifying  to  General  Prescott,  and  to  the  royal  army ;  but  occa 
sioned  much  exultation  among  the  Americans.  Hitherto,  General 
Howe  had  absolutely  refused  to  release  General  Lee,  but  he  soon 


HOWE'S    MANOEUVRES.  287 

agreed  to  exchange  him  for  General  Prescott ;  and  General  Lee 
again  joined  the  American  army."* 

On  the  arrival  of  the  time  for  active  operations,  the  forces  of 
General  Howe  amounted  to  about  thirty  thousand  men,  well  equipped 
and  provided ;  while  the  army  under  Washington  numbered,  as 
we  have  seen,  only  about  seven  thousand  three  hundred  men  fit  for 
duty.  During  the  winter  his  army  had  been  extremely  weak ;  but 
during  the  months  of  April  and  May,  the  new  levies  began  to 
come  in,  and  his  numbers  were  so  much  increased  that  he  advanced 
towards  Brunswick,  and  posted  his  army  upon  the  strong  country 
about  Middlebrook,  in  such  a  position  that  they  would  be  able  to 
move  at  a  moment's  notice,  either  towards  the  Hudson  or  the 
Delaware,  or,  if  necessary,  fall  back  without  loss  to  their  fortified 
encampment  at  Morristown.  He  took  this  position  in  the  expecta 
tion  that  General  Howe  would  either  attempt  to  gain  the  North 
river,  and  by  taking  possession  of  the  Highlands,  cut  off  all  sup 
plies  from  the  Eastern  States,  or  renew  the  plan  of  the  last  cam 
paign,  and  march  through  the  Jerseys  to  Pennsylvania. 

Calling  in  all  his  detachments,  General  Howe  assembled  his 
army  at  Brunswick  on  the  12th  of  June,  but  aware  of  the  strength 
of  the  American  position,  and  judging  it  unadvisable  to  attack  his 
adversary  there,  he  tried  every  expedient,  and  employed  every 
artifice  to  drawT  him  into  less  advantageous  ground.  For  this  pur 
pose,  he  first  formed  his  army  into  two  strong  columns,  and  marched 
towards  the  Delaware  as  far  as  Middlebush  and  Hillsborough. 
Washington  saw  through  the  designs  of  the  British  general,  and 
kept  possession  of  his  camp,  sending  out  skirmishing  parties  to 
harass  and  annoy  his  adversary's  march. 

Howe's  next  manoeuvre  was  to  commence  an  apparently  preci^ 
pitate  retreat.  Accordingly,  on  the  night  of  the  19th  of  June,  he 
abandoned  his  advanced  position,  returned  to  Brunswick,  and  in  a 
short  time,  retiring  to  Amboy,  he  threw  a  bridge  over  the  channel 
separating  the  main  land  from  Staten  Island,  and  conveyed  over  it 
his  heavy  baggage  and  part  of  his  troops.  Washington  detached 
General  Greene  with  some  light  parties  to  annoy  the  rear  of  the 
enemy,  and  moved  his  strong  camp  from  Middlebrook  to  Quibble- 
town,  which  is  six  or  seven  miles  nearer  to  Amboy.  Lord  Stir 
ling's  division  was  advanced  a  few  miles  lower,  in  order  to  co 
operate  with  General  Green,  should  the  retreat  from  Amboy  leave 
any  point  exposed. 

In  this  state  of  things,  General  Howe  thought  it  practicable  to 

*  Western  World,  vol.  i.  236—238. 


288  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

bring  the  inferior  force  of  Washington  to  an  engagement  in  an  open 
field,  or  at  least  to  gain  possession  of  the  high  lands  to  the  left  of 
his  position,  and  thus  compel  him  to  abandon  Middlebrook,  and 
fall  back  towards  Morristown.  With  this  view,  on  the  night  of  the 
2pth,  he  recalled  the  troops  which  had  passed  over  to  Staten  Island, 
and  very  early  the  next  morning  the  whole  British  army  in  two 
columns  moved  rapidly  to  Westfield.  The  right,  under  the  com 
mand  of  Lord  Cornwallis,  fell  in  with  Lord  Stirling's  division  about 
seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  a  smart  engagement  ensued, 
which  gave  General  Washington  timely  notice  of  his  danger,  and 
the  whole  army  fell  back  hastily  towards  the  mountains,  regained 
the  camp,  and  a  detachment  took  possession  of  the  heights  to  the 
left,  which  it  was  supposed  the  enemy  had  designed  to  seize. 
Lord  Stirling's  division,  after  some  smart  skirmishing,  fell  back 
with  but  little  loss  ;  and  Lord  Cornwallis,  perceiving  the  passes  in 
the  mountains  guarded,  and  the  skilful  plans  of  his  commander 
again  completely  overturned  by  the  American  Fabius,  returned  to 
Amboy,  and  the  whole  army  crossed  over  to  Staten  Island,  and 
began  to  embark  in  transports,  to  proceed  to  some  more  assailable 
point  of  the  coast. 

It  was  difficult  for  Washington  to  ascertain  the  designs  of  the 
enemy.  The  whole  coast  of  the  United  States  was  open  to  him, 
and  he  might  sail  to  any  part  of  it  wiih  far  greater  rapidity  than  he 
could  be  followed.  To  add  to  this  uncertainty,  a  letter  from  Gene 
ral  Schuyler  informed  him  that  Burgoyne  was  advancing  from 
Canada  with  a  large  army  against  Ticonderoga.  This  seemed  to 
render  it  probable  that  General  Howe's  intention  wras  to  move  up 
the  Hudson  River,  and  co-operate  with  General  Burgoyne,  and 
under  this  impression  he  moved  a  part  of  his  army  towards  the 
Highlands  by  the  way  of  Morristowrn,  and  advancing  as  far  as  the 
Clove,  detached  Lord  Stirling  to  occupy  Peekskill.  Another  por 
tion  of  the  army  was  stationed  at  Trenton,  to  be  in  readiness,  if 
necessary,  to  protect  Philadelphia. 

While  in  this  state  of  uncertainty,  he  received  information  that 
General  Howe  had,  on  the  23d  of  July,  sailed  from  Sandy  Hook, 
having  with  him  sixteen  thousand  men,  in  a  fleet  of  two  hundred 
and  sixty-seven  vessels.  Still,  the  destination  of  this  fleet  was  un 
certain,  some  reporting  that  it  had  sailed  towards  the  north,  and 
others  towards  the  south.  Apprehending  that  the  whole  movement 
might  be  a  feint,  to  put  him  oiF  his  guard,  and  open  a  passage  up 
the  Hudson,  he  prepared  every  thing  for  moving  with  celerity.  At 
this  juncture  a  letter  purporting  to  be  from  Howe  to  Burgoyne  was 


HOWE'S    MANOEUVRES.  289 

intercepted,  and  carried  to  head-quarters.  It  affected  to  give 
information  that  Howe's  army  was  destined  for  New  Hampshire, 
where  a  junction  was  advised ;  but  so  clumsily  was  the  intended 
deception  veiled  on  the  face  of  this  letter,  that  one  hour  after  its 
reception,  the  army  was  in  full  march  southward.  The  different 
divisions  pursued  different  routes  and  concentrated  on  the  banks  of 
the  Delaware,  where  the  general  was  informed  that  the  enemy's 
fleet  had  appeared  off  the  capes  of  the  Delaware.  Its  destination 
was  no  longer  doubtful,  and  the  troops  were  thrown  across  the 
Delaware,  and  stationed  first  at  Germantown,  where  they  would  be 
at  hand  to  defend  Philadelphia,  while  Washington  himself  has 
tened  forward  to  Chester.  There  he  was  informed  that  the  fleet 
had  left  the  Delaware  Bay  and  steered  towards  the  east.  This 
again  left  him  in  suspense,  and  he  naturally  concluded  from  the 
reported  course  of  the  fleet,  that  General  Howe  would  either  go 
directly  back  to  New  York,  or  land  at  some  port  in  New  England, 
perhaps  at  Boston,  and  co-operate  with  Burgoyne.  Till  this  point 
should  be  settled  by  certain  information,  nothing  could  be  deter 
mined  upon.  Detaching  Sullivan  into  New  Jersey,  Washington 
with  the  main  army  remained  at  Germantown,  until  the  22d  of 
August,  when  he  was  relieved  from  his  painful  suspense  by  the 
intelligence  that  the  fleet  was  ascending  the  Chesapeake. 

It  was  during  this  period  of  comparative  inaction  that  Washing 
ton  first  became  acquainted  with  Lafayette.  This  young  noble 
man  having  offered  his  services  as  a  volunteer  without  compensa 
tion,  he  was  appointed  by  Congress,  on  the  31st  of  July,  a  major- 
general  in  the  Continental  army.  His  first  interview  with  the 
commander-in-chief  took  place  at  a  dinner-party  in  Philadelphia, 
where  there  were  many  officers  and  several  members  of  Congress 
present.  WThen  the  party  was  about  to  separate,  Washington  took 
him  aside,  invited  him  to  consider  himself  as  one  of  his  family,  and 
to  make  the  head-quarters  of  the  army  his  home  during  his  residence 
in  the  country.  The  invitation  was  gladly  accepted,  and  the  young 
French  nobleman  immediately  entered  upon  his  duties,  and  ever 
after  kept  up  a  close  intimacy  with  the  commander-in-chief. 

As  soon  as  certain  information  of  the  destination  of  the  British 
fleet  was  received,  General  Washington  put  his  army  in  motion, 
and  about  seven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  24th  of  August 
marched  through  Philadelphia,  passing  down  Front  Street,  and  up 
Chesnut  Street,  and  proceeded  without  delay  by  the  way  of  Chester, 
to  Wilmington.  From  that  time,  for  two  weeks,  he  was  incessantly 
37  2  B 


290  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

engaged  in  thoroughly  reconnoitering  the  country  between  Phila 
delphia  and  the  Chesapeake. 

The  British  array  debarked  below  the  head  of  the  Elk,  a  few 
days'  march  from  Philadelphia.  On  landing,  General  Howe  issued 
a  proclamation,  promising  pardon  and  protec^on  to  all  who  would 
submit  to  him,  but  it  seems  to  have  produced  but  little  effect. 
The  American  forces  were  thrown  forward  a  few  miles  to  Red  Clay 
Creek,  and  their  pickets  advanced  to  Christiana  bridge,  towards 
which  the  enemy  advanced  on  the  3d  of  September. 

As  the  royal  troops  advanced,  it  became  evident  that  Howe's 
design  was  to  gain  the  right  of  the  American  army.  To  counteract 
this  attempt,  Washington  fell  back  until  he  crossed  the  Brandywine 
Creek,  and,  taking  post  with  his  main  body,  opposite  Chad's  Ford, 
ordered  General  Sullivan,  with  a  detachment,  to  watch  the  fords 
above.  He  sent  General  Maxwell  with  about  a  thousand  light 
troops,  to  occupy  the  high  ground  on  the  other  side  of  the  Brandy- 
wine,  to  skirmish  with  the  British,  and  retard  their  progress. 

General  Washington  distinctly  understood  the  nature  of  the  con 
test  in  which  he  was  engaged  ;  and  sensible  of  the  inferiority  of 
his  raw  and  undisciplined  army  to  the  veteran  troops  under  General 
Howe,  he  wished  to  avoid  a  general  engagement;  but  aware  of  the 
effect  which  the  fall  of  Philadelphia,  without  an  effort  to  save  it, 
would  produce  on  the  minds  of  the  people,  he  determined  to  com 
ply  with  the  wishes  of  Congress  in  this  instance,  against  his  own 
judgment,  to  make  a  determined  effort  to  retard  the  progress  and 
defeat  the  aim  of  the  royal  army. 

On  the  morning  of  the  llth  of  September,  the  British  army 
advanced  in  two  columns ;  the  right,  under  General  Knyphausen, 
inarched  by  the  direct  road  towards  Chad's  Ford  ;  the  left,  under 
Lord  Cornwallis,  accompanied  by  the  commander-in-chief,  and 
Generals  Grey,  Grant,  and  Agnew,  proceeded  by  a  circuitous  route 
towards  the  forks  of  the  Brandywine,  with  the  intention  of  turning 
the  right  of  the  Americans,  and  gaining  their  rear. 

General  Knyphausen's  van  soon  found  itself  opposed  to  the  light 
troops  under  General  Maxwell.  A  smart  conflict  ensued.  The 
British  advanced  guard  being  reinforced,  drove  the  Americans 
across  the  creek,  and  Knyphausen  commenced  a  heavy  fire  of 
artillery,  which  was  returned  with  warmth  by  the  American  bat 
teries.  He  made  no  attempt  to  cross,  though  small  parties  cross 
ing  over  skirmished  on  both  sides. 

Meanwhile,  the  left  wing  of  the  British  crossed  the  fords  above 
the  forks.  Information  of  this  movement  was  conveyed  to  Wash- 


BATTLE    OF    BRANDYWINE. 


291 


/ 


HEAD-QUARTERS     AT     BBANDYWINE. 


ington  by  General  Sullivan  about  noon,  who  immediately  ordered 
Sullivan,  with  the  right  wing,  to  attack  the  enemy's  column  on  its 
progress  down  the  north  side  of  the  Brandy  wine,  while  he  himself 
prepared  for  the  daring  measure  of  recrossing  the  creek  with  his 
centre  and  left,  and  attacking  Knyphausen's  division.  While 
issuing  orders  for  the  execution  of  these  plans,  the  information 
which  had  led  to  them  was  contradicted,  and  those  already  given 
were  countermanded. 

In  the  midst  of  this  uncertainty,  Lord  Cornwallis  crossed  the 
creek  by  Trimble's  and  JefTeris'  Fords,  and  took  the  road  to  Dil- 
worth.  The  alarm  reached  Washington.  The  brigades  of  Stephen, 
Stirling,  and  Sullivan,  under  the  command  of  the  latter,  were  pushed 
forward  to  Birmingham  meeting-house  ;  General  WTayne  was  left 
to  defend  the  passage  at  Chad's  Ford,  while  Washington,  with 
General  Green's  division,  took  an  intermediate  position,  in  order  to 
aid  either  Wayne  or  Sullivan,  as  circumstances  might  require. 
About  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  Cornwallis's  division  reached 
Osborne's  Hill,  where  they  halted  and  dined,  having  in  the  course 


292  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

of  the  morning  marched  thirteen  miles.  Before  they  again  fell  in, 
the  forces  of  the  Americans  were  seen  forming  upon  the  brow  of 
the  opposite  hill  at  Birmingham  meeting-house.  Their  movements 
and  manner  of  forming  were  admired  and  praised  by  Cornwallis, 
who,  with  Howe  and  the  field-officers,  occupied  the  summit  of 
Osborne's  Hill.  Sullivan's  left  extended  towards  the  Brandywine, 
his  artillery  was  judiciously  posted,  and  his  right  was  forming 
across  the  road  intended  to  be  covered  on  the  right  flank  by  the 
woods.  Before  the  right  had  fully  formed,  however,  the  attack  was 
commenced  with  impetuosity  by  a  party  of  Hessians,  who  crossed 
the  street  road  in  front  of  the  American  position,  and  resting  their 
muskets  upon  the  fence,  fired  upon  the  American  outposts.  In 
half  an  hour,  about  four  o'clock,  the  attack  became  general ;  and 
for  some  time  the  Americans  sustained  it  with  intrepidity,  but  at 
length  began  to  give  way  on  the  extreme  right,  where  General 
Deborre,  a  French  officer  who  had  lately  entered  the  service,  com 
manded.  In  attempting  to  rally  them,  Lafayette  was  wounded  in 
the  leg.  General  Sullivan's  brigade,  which,  on  the  retreat  of  the 
right,  was  in  some  degree  outflanked  also,  began  to  give  way. 
Sullivan,  using  every  exertion  to  rally  them,  threw  himself,  with 
Stirling  and  Lafayette,  personally  into  the  conflict,  and  a  most 
heroic  stand  was  made,  these  officers  continuing  to  maintain  their 
ground  until  the  American  forces  were  completely  broken,  and  the 
enemy  within  twenty  yards  of  them,  when  they  escaped  by  taking 
to  the  woods. 

When  General  Washington  heard  the  firing  to  the  right,  he 
ordered  General  Green,  with  his  brigade,  to  support  General  Sulli 
van.  Green  marched  four  miles  in  forty  minutes,  but,  on  reaching 
the  scene  of  action,  he  found  Sullivan's  division  defeated  and 
fleeing  in  confusion.  He  covered  their  retreat,  and,  taking  an 
advantageous  position,  renewed  the  battle,  arrested  the  progress  of 
the  enemy,  and  maintained  his  post  until  the  darkness  of  night 
enabled  him  to  withdraw,  at  the  order  of  the  commander-in-chief. 

As  soon  as  General  Knyphausen  heard  the  firing  of  Cornwallis's 
division,  he  forced  the  passage  of  Chad's  Ford,  attacked  the  troops 
opposed  to  him,  and  compelled  them  to  make  a  precipitate  retreat 
towards  Chester. 

The  effective  force  of  the  Americans  in  this  action  did  not  exceed 
eleven  thousand  men,  whilst  Cornwallis's  division  alone  amounted 
to  thirteen  thousand. 

General  Howe  reported  his  own  loss  to  be  ninety  killed,  four 
hundred  and  eighty-eight  wounded,  and  six  missing ;  and  that  of 


• 


or  THJE         X 
UNIVERSITY   ) 

or 


SKIRMISH    WITH    THE    BRITISH.  295 

the   Americans,   three   hundred   were   killed,   six   hundred   were 
wounded,  and  four  hundred  were  taken. 

The  American  army  retreated  during  the  night  to  Chester,  taking 
with  them  all  their  baggage  and  artillery,  with  the  exception  of  ten 
Mnall  field-pieces  and  a  howitzer.  The  next  morning  Washington 
retired  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  remained  one  day,  and  then 
marched  up  the  north  side  of  the  Schuylkill,  crossed  it  at  Swede's 
Ford,  and  proceeded  again  in  the  direction  of  the  enemy.  The 
two  armies  met  on  the  16th  of  September,  twenty-three  miles  from 
Philadelphia,  and  the  advanced  parties  had  actually  commenced 
an  engagement,  when  a  heavy  rain  rendered  both  parties  unable 
to  continue  the  action.  Washington  retired  to  the  Yellow  Springs, 
and  on  the  22d  recrossed  the  Schuylkill  near  Pottsgrove.  These 
operations  will  be  best  related  in  his  own  words,  written  in  a  letter 
to  Congress  on  the  23d.  That  body  had,  after  again  increasing 
the  powers  of  Washington,  adjourned  to  Lancaster  on  the  18th, 
and  on  the  27th  to  York,  where  they  met  until  the  British  evacuated 
Philadelphia. 

"I  have  not  had  the  honour  of  addressing  you,"  he  says,  «  since 
your  adjournment  to  Lancaster,  and  I  sincerely  \vish  that  my  first 
letter  was  upon  a  more  agreeable  subject.  The  enemy,  by  a 
variety  of  perplexing  manreuvres,  through  a  country  from  which  I 
could  not  derive  the  least  intelligence,  (being  to  a  man  disaffected,) 
contrived  to  pass  the  Schuylkill  last  night  at  Flatland,  and  other 
fords  in  the  neighbourhood  of  it.  They  marched  immediately 
towards  Philadelphia,  and  I  imagine  their  advanced  parties  will 
be  near  that  city  to-night.  They  had  so  far  got  the  start  before  I 
received  certain  intelligence  that  any  considerable  number  had 
crossed,  that  I  found  it  in  vain  to  think  of  overtaking  their  rear,  with 
troops  harassed  as  ours  had  been  with  constant  marching  since  the 
battle  of  Brandywine  ;  and  therefore  concluded,  by  the  advice  of  all 
the  general  officers,  to  march  from  this  place  to-morrow  morning 
towards  Philadelphia,  and  on  the  way  endeavour  to  form  a  junction 
with  the  Continental  troops  under  General  McDougall  from  Peeks- 
kill,  and  the  Jersey  militia  under  General  Dickinson,  both  of 
whom  are,  I  hope,  on  this  side  of  the  Delaware.  I  am  also  obliged 
to  \vait  for  General  Wayne  and  General  Smallwood,  who  were  left 
upon  the  other  side  of  the  Schuylkill,  in  hopes  of  falling  upon  the 
enemy's  rear ;  but  they  have  eluded  them  as  well  as  us. 

«WThen  I  last  recrossed  the  Schuylkill,  it  was  with  a  firm  intent 
of  giving  the  enemy  battle  wherever  I  should  meet  them ;  and 
accordingly,  I  advanced  as  far  as  the  Warren  Tavern  upon  the 


296  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

Lancaster  road,  near  which  place  the  two  armies  were  upon  the 
point  of  coming  to  a  general  engagement,  but  were  prevented  by  a 
most  violent  flood  of  rain,  which  continued  all  the  day  and  follow 
ing  night.  When  it  held  up,  we  had  the  mortification  to  find  that 
our  ammunition,  which  had  been  completed  tp  forty  rounds  a  man, 
was  entirely  ruined,  and  in  that  situation  we  had  nothing  left  for  it 
but  to  find  out  a  strong  piece  of  ground,  which  we  could  easily 
maintain  till  we  could  get  the  arms  put  in  order,  and  a  recruit  of 
ammunition.  Before  this  could  be  fully  effected,  the  enemy  marched 
from  their  position  near  the  White  Horse  Tavern,  down  the  road 
leading  to  the  Swedes'  Ford.  I  immediately  crossed  the  Schuylkill 
above  them,  and  threw  myself  full  in  their  front,  hoping  to  meet 
them  in  their  passage,  or  soon  after  they  had  passed  the  river. 
The  day  before  yesterday  tney  were  again  in  motion,  and  marched 
rapidly  up  the  road  leading  towards  Reading.  This  induced  me 
to  believe  that  they  had  two  objects  in  view,  one  to  get  round  the 
right  of  the  army,  the  other,  perhaps,  to  detach  parties  to  Reading, 
where  wre  had  considerable  quantities  of  military  stores.  To  frus 
trate  those  intentions,  I  moved  the  army  up  on  this  side  of  the  river 
to  this  place,  determined  to  keep  pace  with  them  ;  but  early  this 
morning  I  received  intelligence  that  they  had  crossed  the  fords 
below.  Why  I  did  not  follow  immediately,  I  have  mentioned  in 
the  former  part  of  my  letter ;  but  the  strongest  reason  against  being 
able  to  make  a  forced  march  is  the  want  of  shoes.  Messieurs  Car 
roll,  Chase,  and  Penn,  who  were  some  days  with  the  army,  can 
inform  Congress  in  how  deplorable  a  situation  the  troops  are  for 
want  of  that  necessary  article.  At  least  one  thousand  men  are 
barefooted,  and  have  performed  the  marches  in  that  condition.  I 
was  told  of  a  great  number  of  shoes  in  the  hands  of  private  people 
in  Philadelphia,  and  sent  down  to  secure  them ;  but  I  doubt  the 
approach  of  the  enemy  will  prevent  it. 

«I  have  planned  a  method  of  throwing  a  garrison  into  Fort  Mif- 
flin.  If  it  succeeds,  and  they,  with  the  assistance  of  the  ships  and 
galleys,  should  keep  the  obstructions  in  the  river,  General  Howe's 
situation  in  Philadelphia  will  not  be  the  most  agreeable,  for  if  his 
supplies  can  be  stopped  by  water,  it  may  be  easily  done  by  land. 
To  do  both  shall  be  my  utmost  endeavour;  and  I  am  not  yet 
without  hope  that  the  acquisition  of  Philadelphia  may,  instead  of 
his  good  fortune,  prove  his  ruin." 

On  the  26th  of  September,  General  Howe  entered  and  took  pos 
session  of  Philadelphia  without  further  opposition;  and  on  the  same 
day,  commenced  the  erection  of  batteries  near  the  river,  to  protect 


BATTLE    OF    GERMANTOWN.  297 

the  place  against  such  American  vessels  as  might  approach  the 
shore.  Commodore  Hazlewood,  being  in  command  of  two  frigates, 
a  sloop,  and  several  galleys  and  gondolas  on  the  river,  commenced 
an  attack  on  the  unfinished  batteries  on  the  27th.  A  warm  can 
nonade  was  kept  up  for  some  time,  but  on  the  falling  of  the  tide, 
one  of  the  frigates,  the  Delaware,  grounded  within  five  hundred 
yards  of  the  batteries,  where,  in  her  disabled  condition,  she  was 
taken  by  the  enemy.  The  other  frigate,  with  the  smaller  vessels, 
returned  to  their  former  stations  near  Fort  Mifflin  ;  and  Cornwallis 
opened  a  communication  with  the  Jersey  shore. 

The  main  body  of  the  British  army  encamped  outside  the  city, 
throwing  up  strong  lines  of  intrenchment  reaching  from  the  Schuyl- 
kill  towards  the  Delaware,  occupying  principally  the  village  of 
Germantown,  about  four  miles  above  the  city.  Not  twenty  miles 
off  was  Washington,  with  an  army  of  about  eleven  thousand  men, 
once  more  elate  with  hope  and  fresh  vigour.  Along  the  line  of  the 
Delaware,  between  Philadelphia  and  the  British  fleet,  which  had 
left  the  Chesapeake  immediately  after  the  battle  of  Brandywine, 
formidable  preparations  were  made,  on  the  one  hand  to  open  the 
river,  and  on  the  other  to  resist  the  attempt.  Throughout  the  entire 
distance,  almost  at  the  same  moment,  the  shock  of  war  was  felt. 
Indeed,  from  the  Delaware  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  raged  one  wide, 
wasting  flame  of  war ;  for,  as  Howe  was  approaching  Philadelphia, 
Burgoyne,  with  a  flushed  army  and  savage  allies,  was  descending 
the  Hudson  and  threatening  destruction  to  the  Eastern  States. 
But  neither  Congress  nor  Washington  entertained  the  most  distant 
thought  of  yielding.  On  the  contrary,  when  the  royal  army  was 
in  a  slight  degree  weakened  by  detachments  sent  to  assist  in 
removing  the  obstructions  in  the  Delaware,  General  Washington 
made  a  warm  attack  on  their  encampment  at  Germantown.  Ger 
mantown  consisted  of  but  one  street  about  two  miles  long;  the  line 
of  the  British  encampment  bisected  the  village,  almost  at  right  an 
gles  and  had  its  left  covered  by  the  Schuylkill.  Washington 
inarched  from  his  encampment  at  Skippach  Creek,  about  seven 
o'clock  on  the  evening  of  the  3d  of  October,  and  the  next  morning 
approached  the  enemy  in  four  divisions.  By  the  order  of  battle, 
the  divisions  of  Sullivan  and  Wayne,  flanked  by  Conway's  brigade, 
were  to  enter  the  town  by  way  of  Chestnut  Hill ;  while  Armstrong 
with  the  Pennsylvania  militia  should  approach  the  enemy's  left 
wing  by  the  Manatawny  road,  which  ran  along  the  side  of  the 
Schuylkill.  The  divisions  of  Greene  and  Stephen,  flanked  by 
McDougall's  brigade,  were  to  take  a  circuit  by  way  of  the  Lime- 


298 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


kiln  road,  and  entering  the  village  near  the  market-house,  attack 
the  right  wing ;  while  the  militia  of  Maryland  and  Jersey,  under 
Smallwood  and  Forman,  were  to  march  by  the  Old  York  road  still 
further  to  the  left,  and  fall  upon  the  rear  of  the  enemy's  right. 
Stirling,  with  the  brigades  of  Nash  and  Maxwell,  advanced  in  the 
rear  of  Sullivan  by  the  Chesnut  Hill  road,  and  acted  as  a  corps  de 
reserve. 

The  attack  was  commenced  by  General  Sullivan  about  sunrise 
on  the  morning  of  the  4th  of  October.  He  drove  in  the  advanced 
picket,  and  followed  so  close  that  he  surprised  the  light  infantry 
and  fortieth  regiment,  winch  were  encamped  between  Mount  Airy 
and  the  village.  After  sustaining  for  a  short  time  a  sharp  conflict, 
these  forces,  leaving  their  baggage,  retreated  into  the  village.  In 
his  retreat,  Lieutenant-colonel  Musgrave  succeeded  in  throwing 
himself,  with  six  companies  of  his  regiment,  into  Chew's  large  stone 
house,  which  stood  in  front  of  Sullivan's  column,  and  these  two 
brigades  were  detained  so  long  in  endeavouring  to  dispossess  them 
that  the  British  had  time  to  get  under  arms,  and  be  in  readiness  to 
resist  or  attack,  as  occasion  might  require. 

Green's  division  attacked  the  enemy's  right  wing  about  three 
quarters  of  an  hour  after  the  battle  began  in  the  centre,  and  he  also 
drove  back  the  forces  opposed  to  him.  He  was  on  the  point  of 
forming  a  junction  with  Sullivan's  division,  when,  actuated  by  some 
unaccountable  impulse,  the  Americans  began  to  give  way,  and 
retreated,  carrying  with  them  all  their  artillery. 

General  Washington  gave  the  following  account  of  this  action  to 
his  brother.  «  The  enemy  crossed  the  Schuylkill  by  stratagem, 
though  I  do  not  knowr  that  it  was  in  our  power  to  prevent  it,  as 
their  manoeuvres  made  it  necessary  for  us  to  attend  to  our  stores, 


BATTLE    OF    GERMANTOWN.  299 

which  lay  at  Reading,  towards  which  they  seemed  bending  their 
course,  and  the  loss  of  which  must  have  proved  our  ruin.  After 
they  had  crossed,  we  took  the  first  favourable  opportunity  of  attack 
ing  them. 

"This  was  attempted  by  a  night's  march  of  fourteen  miles  to 
surprise  them,  which  we  effectually  did,  so  far  as  to  reach  their 
guards  before  they  had  notice  of  our  coming ;  and  if  it  had  not 
been  for  a  thick  fog,  which  rendered  it  so  dark  at  times  that  we 
were  not  able  to  distinguish  friend  from  foe  at  the  distance  of  thirty 
yards,  we  should,  I  believe,  have  made  a  decisive  and  glorious  day 
of  it.  But  Providence  designed  it  otherwise;  for,  after  we  had 
driven  the  enemy  a  mile  or  two,  after  they  were  in  the  utmost  con 
fusion,  and  flying  before  us  in  most  places,  after  we  were  upon  the 
point,  as  it  appeared  to  everybody,  of  grasping  a  complete  victory, 
our  own  troops  took  flight  and  fled  with  precipitation  and  disorder. 
How  to  account  for  this,  I  know  not ;  unless,  as  I  before  observed, 
the  fog  represented  their  own  friends  to  them  for  a  reinforcement 
of  the  enemy,  as  we  attacked  in  different  quarters  at  the  same  time, 
and  were  about  closing  the  wings  of  our  army  when  this  happened. 
One  thing,  indeed,  contributed  not  a  little  to  our  misfortune,  and 
that  was  a  want  of  ammunition  on  the  right  wing,  which  began  the 
engagement,  and  in  the  course  of  two  hours  and  forty  minutes, 
which  time  it  lasted,  had,  many  of  them,  expended  the  forty  rounds 
that  they  took  into  the  field.  After  the  engagement,  we  removed 
to  a  place  about  twenty  miles  from  the  enemy,  to  collect  our  forces 
together,  to  take  care  of  our  wounded,  get  furnished  with  necessa 
ries  again,  and  be  in  a  better  posture,  either  for  offensive  or  defen 
sive  operations.  We  are  now  (October  15)  advancing  towards  the 
enemy  again,  being  at  this  time  within  twelve  miles  of  them. 

"Our  loss  in  the  late  action,  was  in  killed,  wounded,  and 
missing,  about  one  thousand  men,*  but  of  the  missing,  many,  I 
dare  say,  took  advantage  of  the  time  and  deserted.  General  Nash, 
of  North  Carolina,  was  wounded  and  died  two  or  three  days  after. 
Many  valuable  officers  of  ours  were  also  wounded,  and  some  killed. 
In  a  word,  it  was  a  bloody  day.  Would  to  heaven  I  could  add, 
that  it  had  been  a  more  fortunate  one  for  us." 

On  the  day  after  the  battle,  he  wrote  to  Congress :  "The  morning 
was  extremely  foggy,  which  prevented  our  improving  the  advan 
tages  we  gained  so  well  as  we  should  otherwise  have  done.  This 
circumstance^  by  concealing  from  us  the  true  situation  of  the  enemy, 

*  One  hundred  and  fifty  killed,  five  hundred  and  twenty-one  wounded,  and  about 
four  hundred  prisoners. 


300  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

obliged  us  to  act  with  more  caution  and  less  expedition  than  we 
could  have  wished  ;  and  gave  the  enemy  time  to  recover  from  the 
effects  of  our  first  impression  ;  and,  which  was  still  more  unfortu 
nate,  it  served  to  keep  our  different  parties  in  ignorance  of  each 
other's  movements,  and  hinder  their  acting  in  Concert.  It  also  occa 
sioned  them  to  mistake  one  another  for  the  enemy,  which,  I  believe, 
more  than  any  thing  else  contributed  to  the  misfortune  that  ensued. 
In  the  midst  of  the  most  promising  appearances,  when  every  thing 
gave  the  most  flattering  hopes  of  victory,  the  troops  began  suddenly 
to  retreat,  and  entirely  left  the  field,  in  spite  of  every  effort  that 
could  be  made  to  rally  them." 

The  large  numbers  of  prisoners  taken  by  the  British  was  also  in 
consequence  of  the  fog.  Colonel  Matthews,  having  routed  a  party 
of  the  British  opposed  to  him,  and  captured  a  hundred  and  ten  of 
them,  lost  sight  of  the  brigade  to  which  he  belonged,  and  approach 
ing  a  large  body  of  men  in  good  order,  was  deceived,  and  think 
ing  they  were  the  brigade  to  which  he  belonged,  approached  and 
was  taken  prisoner  with  his  whole  regiment,  and  the  prisoners 
which  he  had  previously  taken  were  released. 

The  British  had  six  hundred  men  killed  or  wounded ;  among 
the  slain  were  Brigadier-general  Agnew  and  Colonel  Bird,  both 
officers  of  distinguished  reputation. 

Notwithstanding  the  ill  success  of  this  expedition,  Congress 
expressed  their  approbation  both  of  its  plan  and  execution,  and 
voted  their  thanks  to  the  general  and  his  army. 

Washington,  having  recruited  his  troops,  returned  towards  the 
enemy  and  took  a  strong  position  at  White  Marsh  before  the  end  of 
October.  His  chief  object  was  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  enemy 
to  himself,  and  divert  his  strength  from  the  operations  against  the 
forts  on  the  Delaware.  Howe  understood  and  eluded  this  manoau- 
vre,  by  withdrawing  his  entire  force  into  the  city,  and  thus  concen 
trating  his  full  power  against  the  forts.  For  nearly  two  months 
the  operations  on  the  river  were  conducted  with  varied  success,  the 
British  being  sometimes  repulsed,  and  sometimes  partially  success 
ful  in  their  attacks  on  the  American  forts,  Mifflin,  on  Mud  Island, 
in  the  river,  and  Mercer,  on  Red  Bank,  on  the  Jersey  side.  Count 
Donop  was  despatched  with  a  strong  body  of  Hessians  against  the 
latter  place.  Crossing  the  river,  he  marched  rapidly  to  the  assault 
at  the  head  of  two  thousand  men.  The  fort  was  defended  by 
Colonel  Greene,  with  about  five  hundred  men.  Not  being  sufficient 
in  number  to  man  the  outworks,  he  ordered  the  garrison  to  retard 
the  approach  of  the  enemy  until  they  came  close  to  the  outworks, 


OPERATIONS    ON    THE    DELAWARE.  301 

and  then  to  retire  within  the  second  barrier.  The  besiegers  leaped 
upon  the  deserted  barricades  with  loud  huzzas,  which  the  garrison 
answered  with  a  terrific  fire.  Peal  upon  peal  came  in  quick  suc 
cession,  and  the  enemy  were  compelled  to  stagger  back  over  the 
corpses  of  their  comrades.  Count  Donop  remained  on  the  ground 
mortally  wounded.  The  second  in  command  fell,  and  the  detach 
ment,  so  confident  a  few  hours  before,  retreated  in  dismay,  without 
effecting  any  serious  injury,  but  leaving  at  least  four  hundred  of 
their  number  behind  them  either  killed  or  wounded. 

Meanwhile,  Fort  Miffiin  was  attacked  both  by  batteries  on  the 
shore  and  by  shipping,  and  was  battered  incessantly  from  the  10th 
•to  the  16th  of  November.  By  that  time,  every  defence  was  de 
stroyed,  and  every  cannon  dismounted,  so  that  ships  could  ap 
proach  so  near  as  to  enable  the  sailors  to  throw  hand-grenades 
from  their  tops.  The  garrison  was  then  ordered  to  quit  the  post  ; 
and  Red  Bank  being  now  no  longer  useful,  was  abandoned  on  the 
approach  of  Lord  Cornwallis,  with  five  thousand  men,  to  invest  it. 
Thus  the  fortifications  of  the  Delaware  being  destroyed,  the  ob 
structions  in  its  channel  were  removed,  and  after  six  weeks  of  in 
cessant  effort  and  great  loss,  General  Howe  obtained  command  of 
the  navigation  of  the  Delaware,  and  thus  opened  a  communication 
between  the  British  fleet  and  his  army  in  Philadelphia. 

General  Washington's  army  at  Whitemarsh  was,  in  November, 
reinforced  by  part  of  the  northern  army,  the  campaign  having 
closed  in  that  quarter,  by  the  capture  of  Burgoyne.  The  arrival 
of  militia  further  increased  his  numbers,  in  the  beginning  of  De 
cember,  to  fourteen  thousand  men,  which  made  it,  in  that  respect, 
nearly  equal  to  the  British  army  under  General  Howe.  But  the 
difference  in  the  quality  and  equipment  of  these  two  bodies  gave 
an  immense  superiority  to  Howe.  His  men  were  veterans,  accus 
tomed  to  the  most  exact  discipline  and  subordination,  well  armed, 
and  abundantly  supplied  with  military  stores  and  other  necessaries  ; 
but  the  soldiers  of  Washington  were  mostly  raw  levies,  and  disor 
derly  militia,  ill-disciplined,  imperfectly  armed,  and  strangers 
to  military  subordination.  This  inferiority  induced  Washington 
still  to  keep  on  the  defensive,  unless  circumstances  should  be  so 
much  in  his  favor  as  to  counterbalance  its  effects.  Consequently, 
when  the  British  army,  on  the  4th  of  December,  marched  from 
Philadelphia,  and  took  post  on  Chesnut  Hill,  fronting  his  camp, 
he  had  too  much  prudence  and  too  much  patriotism  to  hazard  the 
permanent  liberty  of  his  country  on  a  single  action,  how  great  so 
ever  might  be  the  lustre  which  its  success  might  reflect  upon  his 

2C 


302  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

arms.  The  enemy  took  this  position  on  the  evening  of  the  4th, 
about  three  miles  distant  from  the  American  right  wing.  On  the 
5th,  both  armies  sent  out  light  parties  to  skirmish,  but  Washington 
was  not  to  be  enticed  from  the  advantageous  position  which  he  then 
occupied.  During  the  night  of  the  5th,  the  ^nemy  changed  their 
ground,  and  moved  to  the  left  of  the  American  line,  where,  strongly 
posted,  they  remained  quiet  the  whole  of  the  next  day.  On  the 
7th  they  advanced  still  farther  towards  the  American  left,  and 
Colonel  Morgan  was  detached  to  attack  and  skirmish  with  their 
advanced  and  flanking  parties.  About  sunset,  after  various 
marches  and  countermarches,  they  halted,  having  taken  such  a 
position  that  General  Washington  concluded  that  they  would  at 
tack  him  during  the  night,  or  early  in  the  morning.  Confident  in 
the  strength  of  his  position,  there  was  nothing  which  he  desired 
more.  In  this,  however,  he  was  mistaken.  On  the  morning  of 
the  8th,  they  again  began  to  move,  but  instead  of  advancing,  they 
filed  off  from  their  right,  and  retreated  in  such  haste  to  Philadel 
phia,  that  the  parties  detached  by  Washington  to  fall  upon  their 
rear,  found  it  impossible  to  overtake  them.  In  the  several  skir 
mishes  which  occurred  during  the  three  days  on  which  the  two 
armies  lay  in  front  of  each  other,  the  British  lost  twenty  men  killed, 
sixty-three  wounded,  and  thirty-three  prisoners.  On  the  side  of 
the  Americans,  there  were  forty-three  or  forty-four  men  killed  or 
wounded;  among  the  latter,  Brigadier-general  Irvine  and  Major 
Morris. 

The  winter  now  set  in  with  great  severity,  and  the  Americans 
were  badly  clothed,  and  almost  destitute  of  blankets.  Notwith 
standing  these  privations,  which  seemed  to  render  good  winter 
quarters  absolutely  necessary,  Washington  determined  to-  sacrifice 
the  comforts  which  his  troops  had  a  right  to  expect,  to  the  welfare 
of  his  country.  He  therefore  led  them  to  Valley  Forge,  a  strong 
position  on  the  Schuylkill,  about  twenty  miles  from  Philadelphia, 
where  they  arrived  on  the  19th  of  December,  when  they  immedi 
ately  commenced  building  for  themselves  log  huts.  These  huts 
were  each  sixteen  by  fourteen  feet,  and  were  arranged  in  parallel 
lines,  so  far  as  the  nature  of  the  ground  would  admit.  Twelve 
privates  were  quartered  in  one  hut  ;  while  one  was  assigned  to 
the  commissioned  officers  of  every  two  companies  ;  one  to  the 
staff  of  each  regiment;  one  to  the  field-officers  of  each  regiment; 
one  to  the  staff  of  each  brigade  ;  and  one  to  each  general 
officer. 

On  the  17th  of  December,  General  Washington  issued  his  order 


THE  ARMY  AT  VALLEY  FORGE.       303 

for  the  retirement  of  his  army  to  winter  quarters.  The  concluding 
clause  of  this  order  deserves  notice.  It  is  in  these  words  : 

«  To-morrow,  being  the  day  set  apart  by  the  honourable  Con 
gress  for  public  thanksgiving  and  praise,  and  duty  calling  us  de 
voutly  to  express  our  grateful  acknowledgments  to  God  for  the 
manifold  blessings  he  has  granted  us,  the  general  directs  that  the 
army  remain  in  its  present  quarters,  and  that  the  chaplains  per 
form  divine  service  with  their  several  corps  and  brigades  ;  and 
earnestly  exhorts  all  officers  and  soldiers,  whose  absence  is  not 
indispensably  necessary,  to  attend  with  reverence  the  solemnities 
of  the  day." 

The  army  retired  to  Valley  Forge,  and  the  soldiers  cut  down 
the  trees,  built  their  huts,  and  fortified  their  position,  which  they 
occupied  till  June,  1778  ;  but  notwithstanding  all  their  exertions, 
they  suffered  extremely  during  the  winter,  both  for  food  and  cloth 
ing.  "It  is  with  infinite  pain  and  concern,"  said  Washington,  in 
a  letter  to  Congress,  as  early  as  the  22d  of  December,  "  that  I 
transmit  the  enclosed  copies  of  sundry  letters  respecting  the  com 
missary's  department.  In  these,  matters  are  not  exaggerated.  I 
do  not  know  from  what  cause  this  alarming  deficiency,  or  rather 
total  failure  of  supplies,  arises ;  but,  unless  more  vigorous  exer 
tions,  and  better  regulations  take  place  in  that  line  immediately, 
this  army  must  dissolve.  I  have  done  all  in  my  powrer,  by  remon 
strating,  by  writing,  by  ordering  the  commissaries  on  this  head, 
from  time  to  time  ;  but  without  any  good  effect,  or  obtaining  more 
than  a  present  scanty  relief.  Owing  to  this,  the  inarch  of  the  army 
has  been  delayed,  upon  more  than  one  interesting  occasion,  in  the 
course  of  the  present  campaign  ;  and,  had  a  body  of  the  enemy 
crossed  the  Schuylkill  this  morning,  as  I  had  reason  to  expect, 
from  the  intelligence  I  received  at  four  o'clock  last  night,  the  divi 
sions  which  I  ordered  to  be  in  readiness  to  march  and  meet  them 
could  not  have  moved." 

The  following  extracts  from  two  of  the  letters  to  which  the  gene 
ral  alludes,  and  to  which  he  referred  the  attention  of  Congress,  and 
which  he  had  received  on  the  same  morning  on  which  he  wrote 
the  above  letter,  will  give  a  sad  but  true  account  of  the  condition 
of  the  army  at  that  early  period  of  the  winter  cantonment. 

"  I  received  an  order,"  writes  General  Huntington,  « to  hold 
my  brigade  in  readiness  to  march.  Fighting  will  be  by  far  pre 
ferable  to  starving.  My  brigade  are  out  of  provisions,  nor  can  the 
commissary  obtain  any  meat.  I  arn  exceedingly  unhappy  in  being 


304  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

the  bearer  of  complaints  to  head-quarters.  I  have  used  every 
argument  my  imagination  can  invent,  to  make  the  soldiers  easy, 
but  I  despair  of  being  able  to  do  it  much  longer." 

The  other  extract  is  from  a  letter  from  General  Varnum.  He 
writes  :  • ' 

"According  to  the  saying  of  Solomon,  hunger  will  break  through 
a  stone  wall.  It  is  therefore  a  very  pleasing  circumstance  to  the 
division  under  my  command,  that  there  is  a  probability  of  their 
marching.  Three  days  successively  we  have  been  destitute  of 
bread.  Two  days  we  have  been  entirely  without  meat.  The  men 
must  be  supplied,  or  they  cannot  be  commanded.  The  complaints 
are  too  urgent  to  pass  unnoticed.  It  is  with  pain  that  I  men 
tion  this  distress.  I  know  it  will  make  your  excellency  unhappy  ; 
but,  if  you  expect  the  exertion  of  virtuous  principles,  while  your 
troops  are  deprived  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  your  final  disappoint 
ment  will  be  great  in  proportion  to  the  patience  which  now  aston 
ishes  every  man  of  human  feeling.'' 

On  the  next  day,  December  23d,  the  general  again  wrote  to 
Congress  : 

"  Full  as  I  was  in  my  representation  of  the  matters  in  the  com 
missary's  department,  yesterday,  fresh  and  more  powerful  reasons 
oblige  me  to  add,  that  I  am  now  convinced,  beyond  a  doubt,  that, 
unless  some  great  and  capital  change  suddenly  takes  place  in  that 
line,  this  army  must  inevitably  be  reduced  to  one  or  other  of  these 
three  things  :  starve,  dissolve,  or  disperse,  in  order  to  obtain  sub 
sistence  in  the  best  manner  they  can.  Rest  assured,  sir,  this  is 
not  an  exaggerated  picture,  and  that  I  have  abundant  reason  to 
suppose  what  I  say. 

1  'Yesterday  afternoon,  receiving  information  that  the  enemy,  in 
force,  had  left  the  city,  and  were  advancing  towards  Derby,  with 
the  apparent  design  to  forage,  and  draw  subsistence  from  that  part 
of  the  country,  I  ordered  the  troops  to  be  in  readiness,  that  I 
might  give  every  opposition  in  my  power  ;  when  behold,  to  my 
great  mortification,  I  was  not  only  informed,  but  convinced,  that 
the  men  were  unable  to  stir  on  account  of  provisions,  and  that  a 
dangerous  mutiny,  begun  the  night  before,  and  which  with  diffi 
culty  was  suppressed  by  the  spirited  exertions  of  some  officers, 
was  still  much  to  be  apprehended  for  want  of  this  article.  This 
brought  forth  the  only  commissary  in  the  purchasing  line  in  this 
camp  ;  and,  with  him,  this  melancholy  and  alarming  truth,  that 
he  had  not  a  single  hoof  of  any  kind  to  slaughter,  and  not  more 
than  twenty-five  barrels  of  flour !  From  hence  form  an  opinion 


THE    ARMY    AT   VALLEY    FORGE.  305 

of  our  situation,  when  I  add,  that  he  could  not  tell  when  to  ex 
pect  any. 

«  All  I  could  do,  under  these  circumstances,  was  to  send  out  a 
few  light  parties  to  watch  and  harass  the  enemy,  whilst  other  parties 
were  instantly  detached  different  ways  to  collect,  if  possible,  as  much 
provision  as  would  satisfy  the  present  pressing  wants  of  the  sol 
diery.  But  will  this  answer  ?  No  sir  ;  three  or  four  days  of  bad 
weather  would  prove  our  destruction.  What  then  is  to  become 
of  the  army  this  winter  ?  And  if  we  are  so  often  without  provi 
sions  now,  what  is  to  become  of  us  in  the  spring,  when  our  force 
wrill  be  collected,  with  the  aid  perhaps  of  militia  to  take  advantagt- 
of  an  early  campaign,  before  the  enemy  can  be  reinforced  ?  These 
are  considerations  of  great  magnitude,  meriting  the  closest  atten 
tion  ;  and  they  will,  when  my  o\vn  reputation  is  so  intimately  con 
nected  with  the  event,  and  to  be  affected  by  it,  justify  my  saying, 
that  the  present  commissaries  are  by  no  means  equal  to  the  execu 
tion  of  the  office,  or  that  the  disaffection  of  the  people  is  past  all 
belief.  The  misfortune,  however,  does,  in  my  opinion,  proceed 
from  both  causes ;  and,  though  I  have  been  tender  heretofore  of 
giving  any  opinion,  or  lodging  complaints,  as  the  change  in  that 
department  took  place  contrary  to  my  judgment,  and  the  conse 
quences  thereof  were  predicted  ;  yet,  rinding  that  the  inactivity  of 
the  army,  whether  for  want  of  provisions,  clothes,  or  other  essen 
tials,  is  charged  to  my  account,  not  only  by  the  common  vulgar, 
but  by  those  in  power,  it  is  time  to  speak  plain  in  exculpation  of 
myself.  With  truth,  then,  I  can  declare,  that  no  man,  in  my  opin 
ion,  ever  had  his  measures  more  impeded  upon  than  I  have,  by 
every  department  of  the  army. 

"Since  the  month  of  July,  we  have  had  no  assistance  from  the 
quartermaster-general,  and  to  want  of  assistance  from  this  depart 
ment  the  commissary-general  charges  a  great  part  of  his  deficiency. 
To  this  I  am  to  add,  that  notwithstanding  it  is  a  standing  order, 
and  often  repeated,  that  the  troops  shall  always  have  two  days' 
provisions  by  them,  that  they  might  be  ready  on  any  sudden  call  ; 
yet  an  opportunity  has  scarcely  ever  offered,  of  taking  an  advantage 
of  the  enemy,  that  has  not  been  either  totally  obstructed,  or  greatly 
impeded,  on  this  account.  And  this,  the  great  and  crying  evil,  is 
not  all.  The  soap,  vinegar,  and  other  articles  allowed  by  Con 
gress,  we  see  none  of,  nor  have  we  seen  them,  I  believe,  since  the 
battle  of  Brandywine.  The  first,  indeed,  we  have  now  little  occa 
sion  for  ;  few  men  having  more  than  one  shirt,  many  only  the 
39  2  c2 


306  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

moiety  of  one,  and  some  none  at  all.  In  addition  to  which,  as  a 
proof  of  the  little  benefit  received  from  a  clothier-general,  and  as 
a  further  proof  of  the  inability  of  an  army,  under  the  circumstances 
of  this,  to  perform  the  common  duties  of  soldiers,  (beside  a  num 
ber  of  men  confined  to  hospitals  for  want  of^shoes,  and  others  in 
farmers'  houses  on  the  same  account,)  we  have,  by  a  field  return, 
this  day  made,  no  less  than  two  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
ninety-eight  men  now  in  camp,  unfit  for  duty,  because  they  are 
barefoot,  and  otherwise  naked.  By  the  same  return,  it  appears, 
that  our  whole  strength  in  continental  troops,  including  the  eastern 
brigades,  which  have  joined  us  since  the  surrender  of  General 
Burgoyne,  exclusive  of  the  Maryland  troops  sent  to  Wilmington, 
amounts  to  no  more  than  eight  thousand  two  hundred  in  camp,  fit 
for  duty  ;  notwithstanding  which,  and  that  since  the  4th  instant, 
our  numbers  fit  for  duty,  from  the  hardships  and  exposures  they 
have  undergone,  particularly  on  account  of  blankets,  (numbers 
having  been  obliged,  and  still  are,  to  sit  up  all  night  by  fires,  in 
stead  of  taking  comfortable  rest  in  a  natural  and  common  way,) 
have  decreased  near  two  thousand  men." 

A  committee  of  Congress  was  appointed  to  proceed  to  Valley 
Forge,  and  take  measures  for  the  relief  of  these  pressing  wants, 
but  during  the  whole  winter  and  the  ensuing  spring,  they  continued 
almost  unmitigated,  until  the  army  again  moved  in  June. 

While  Washington  was  thus  keeping  up  a  show  of  resistance, 
and  using  his  utmost  endeavours  to  infuse  courage  and  hope  into 
the  minds  of  the  people  in  the  Middle  States,  the  northern  army, 
at  first  repulsed,  overawed,  and  driven  back  before  a  superior  foe, 
was,  under  the  guidance  and  superintendence  of  officers  appointed 
by  Congress,  on  the  recommendation  of  Washington,  and  by  his 
advice  and  aid,  gaining  for  the  country  a  most  important  triumph, 
and  one  which  had  no  little  influence  on  the  minds  of  the  French 
and  English  governments,  and  contributed  greatly  to  the  success 
of  the  campaign  of  1778. 

On  the  30th  of  June,  1777,  the  British  General  Burgoyne  issued 
the  following  order  : 

"  The  army  embarks  to-morrow  to  approach  the  enemy.  The 
services  required  on  this  expedition  are  actual  and  conspicuous. 
During  our  progress  occasions  may  occur  in  which  nor  difficulty, 
nor  labour,  nor  life  are  to  be  regarded.  This  army  must  not  re 
treat." 

Such  was  the  language  of  the  ominous  proclamation  which 
heralded  the  operations  of  the  British  northern  army.  And  that 


BURGOYNE'S    CAMPAIGN.  307 

army  had  dread  auxiliaries,  to  whose  native  passions  might  well  be 
committed  the  execution  of  these  sanguinary  orders.  It  would  be 
impossible  to  say  whether  Burgoyne,  who  led  on  this  devastating 
force,  addressed  them,  for  the  purpose  of  awakening  the  instincts 
of  the  savages,  or  by  way  of  anticipating  the  acts  of  barbarity, 
which  he  knew  it  would  be  impossible  to  prevent  them  from  per 
petrating. 

In  the  summer  of  1776,  the  American  army  evacuated  the  pro 
vince  of  Canada.  From  that  time  until  the  arrival  of  Burgoyne, 
the  operations  of  Sir  Guy  Carleton  were  merely  defensive  ;  and 
the  Americans  did  not  venture  to  disturb  his  repose.  When 
Burgoyne,  at  the  head  of  a  large  force  destined  to  invade  the 
northern  states,  began  his  march,  the  Americans  had  possession 
only  of  Ticonderoga  and  the  several  forts  about  it.  He  invested 
them  on  all  sides  ;  and  General  St.  Clair,  first  in  command,  find 
ing  his  little  force  utterly  inadequate  to  defend  the  extensive  line 
of  forts,  the  safety  of  which  was  essential  to  the  fort  of  Ticonde 
roga  itself,  called  a  council  of  war,  and  submitted  the  humiliating 
proposal  of  evacuating  the  place,  although  the  evacuation  in 
volved  the  loss  of  all  the  stores  and  baggage.  The  proposal  re 
ceived  unanimous  sanction,  notwithstanding  that  step  was  one  of 
great  risk,  and  greater  delicacy.  The  strength  of  Ticonderoga 
was  a  familiar  boast  with  all  America,  and  the  general  who  aban 
doned  it  without  an  effort,  was  sure  to  be  assailed  with  all  the 
bitterness  of  popular  odium.  Time,  however,  and  the  verdict  of 
a  court-martial,  bore  testimony  to  the  wisdom  of  St.  Glair's  reso 
lution.  An  attempt  was  made  to  save  some  of  the  stores,  which 
were  shipped  on  board  a  few  batteaux,  which  left  the  fort  as  the 
army  commenced  its  retreat.  Burgoyne's  disposition  to  pursue 
them,  both  by  land  and  water,  was  prompt  and  determined.  The 
batteaux  were  overtaken,  and,  after  a  brief  and  bootless  resistance, 
all  the  American  vessels  were  sunk  or  fired.  On  the  track  of  the 
army  hung  the  avenging  savages,  who  formed  the  van  of  Bur 
goyne's  force. 

The  destruction  of  the  little  fleet,  and  the  defeat  of  some  regi 
ments  in  St.  Glair's  rear,  gave  a  new  direction  to  his  march  ;  his 
enfeebled  resources  suggesting  the  immediate  necessity  of  forming 
a  junction  with  Schuyler,  at  Fort  Edward,  on  the  Hudson. 
Marching  south-west,  he  succeeded  in  reaching  this  point,  when 
the  joint  forces  of  both  generals  were  found  to  amount  to  only 
four  thousand  four  hundred.  On  the  approach  of  Burgoyne's  vic 
torious  troops,  this  fort  was  abandoned,  and  the  army  fell  back 


308  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

upon  Albany.  But  in  that  quarter,  too,  a  dangerous  foe  was  in 
rapid  march  to  intercept  their  retreat.  St.  Leger,  with  whom  were 
the  chief  Indian  auxiliaries,  had  made  a  circuit  to  the  right, 
and  was  approaching  Albany  by  Lake  Ontario  and  the  Mohawk 
River. 

While  Burgoyne  was  meditating  on  the  surest  means  of  captur 
ing,  or  cutting  off  in  the  speediest  way  the  American  army,  and 
his  troops,  in  this  hope,  were  surmounting  all  the  difficulties  of  a 
inarch  through  the  wilderness,  St.  Leger  received  an  unexpected 
check  on  the  banks  of  the  Mohawk.  While  on  rapid  march  with 
the  Indians,  athirst  for  blood  and  plunder,  he  laid  siege  to  Fort 
Schuyler,  on  the  Mohawk,  the  first  place  that  presented  any  op^ 
position.  Colonel  Herkimer,  with  a  regiment  of  volunteers,  has 
tily  collected,  determined  to  attack  him  in  his  intrenchments  ; 
but  while  on  his  route  he  was  surprised  by  the  Indians,  and  a 
detachment  from  St.  Leger's  camp.  Herkimer  was  killed,  and 
his  army,  after  a  desperate  struggle,  completely  routed,  leaving 
about  one  hundred  and  sixty  of  their  comrades  on  the  field,  to 
glut  the  barbarity  of  the  Indians.  But  in  that  unequal  conflict, 
they  made  an  impression  on  the  red  warriors  which  they  never 
afterwards  forgot.  This  short  battle  sorely  thinned  them,  and  its 
consequences  were  any  thing  but  satisfactory  to  their  cupidity. 
St.  Leger,  in  his  correspondence  with  the  garrison,  held  out  as  a 
threat  their  uncontrollable  ferocity,  which,  if  the  fort  did  not  at 
once  submit,  would  commit  indiscriminate  murder,  "  not  alone 
on  the  garrison,  but  on  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the 
Mohawk  country." 

The  answer  of  Colonel  Gavensfort  to  this  inhuman  menace, 
which  it  would  be  impossible  to  credit,  did  but  one  man  then 
or  since  contradict  it,  is  one  of  the  noblest  in  any  annals  : — "  I 
am  determined,"  said  he,  « to  defend  the  fort  to  the  last  extre 
mity,  against  all  enemies  whatever,  without  any  concern  for  the 
consequence  of  doing  my  duty." 

Besieged  and  besiegers  redoubled  their  efforts,  and  the  extremity 
which  the  garrison  had  dared  was  quickly  approaching,  when  a 
strange  revolution  in  the  British  camp  gave  affairs  a  different  turn. 
Two  officers,  WTillet  and  Stockwell,  undertook  the  desperate  at 
tempt  of  stealing  through  savages  and  soldiers  to  convey  to  Schuyler 
intelligence  of  the  garrison's  distress.  They  succeeded,  and  at 
the  same  time,  a  prisoner,  acquainted  with  the  language  of  the 
Indians,  was  prevailed  on  to  enter  their  bivouacks,  and  dissuade 
them  from  the  enterprise.  They  listened,  and  were  convinced. 


DEFENCE  OF  FORT  SCHUYLER. 


309 


St.  Leger  employed  all  his 
address  to  change  their  re 
solutions,  but  in  vain.  At 
the  same  time  other  intelli 
gence,  still  more  gratifying, 
apprized  them  that  Arnold 
was  hurrying  to  their  relief, 
with  a  speed  such  as  but 
few  besides  him  could  em 
ploy  when  on  errands  of 
battle. 

The  siege  was  raised  on 
the  22d  of  August,  in  the 
midst  of  the  confusion 
caused  by  the  departure  of 
the  Indians,  the  main  body 
of  whom  only  remained  on 
condition  of  an  instant  aban 
donment  of  this  tedious  warfare.  Ere  yet  Burgoyne  was  aware  of 
this,  he  revolved  in  his  mind,  with  deep  anxiety,  the  prudence  and 
glory  of  a  rapid  movement  into  the  country,  which,  while  it  opened 
to  him  a  dazzling  prospect  of  triumph,  involved  the  danger  of  remov 
ing  a  large  army  out  of  the  reach  of  those  shores  whence  he  re 
ceived  his  chief  supply.  Ambition  prevailed.  But  he  determined 
to  try  if  he  might  not  rely  on  the  rich  produce  of  Vermont,  which 
he  calculated  that  the  panic  of  the  inhabitants  and  their  supposed 
disaffection  to  the  American  cause  would  place  at  his  disposal.  A 
detachment  of  five  hundred  men,  with  six  hundred  Indians,  was 
directed  to  explore  Vermont,  disperse  any  scattered  militia  that 
might  guard  it,  and  enter  into  terms  with  the  loyalists.  They  were 
rescued  at  the  sword's  point.  Colonel  Baum,  their  commander, 
found  himself  surrounded  by  forces  vastly  superior.  He  paused 
when  too  late,  and  despatched  a  messenger,  demanding  instant 
reinforcement.  But  before  aid  arrived,  the  militia  fell  upon  him, 
at  Bennington,  and  totally  routed  him.  This  wras  a  signal  and  most 
timely  advantage,  and  it  was  obtained  by  about  eight  hundred  men 
without  a  single  piece  of  artillery, — scarcely  one  man  escaping. 
Colonel  Brehman,  despatched  with  a  reinforcement  by  Burgoyne, 
arrived  on  the  field  too  late  to  take  part  in  the  action,  but  not  too 
late  to  engage  in  a  fresh  conflict  with  the  elated  Americans,  now 
reinforced  on  their  part  by  Colonel  Warner's  regiment.  Brehman's 
force  fought  with  obstinate  bravery  for  a  long  time,  though  wearied 


310  LIFE    OF   WASHINGTON. 

with  a  forced  march.  At  length  they  broke  and  fled,  abandoning 
their  artillery  to  the  Americans,  whose  commanding  officers  re 
ceived  the  just  thanks  of  Congress  for  the  important  and  gallant 
service  they  had  rendered  to  their  country.  The  British  lost  four 
brass  field-pieces,  two  hundred  and  fifty  dragoons'  swords,  and 
seven  hundred  prisoners. 

This  defeat  checked  the  tide  of  British  victory.  Hitherto  it  had 
swept  with  wasting  fury  over  lake,  forest,  and  plain.  Burgoyne 
reined  in  his  impetuosity  in  deep  chagrin.  He  reluctantly  admitted 
that  any  further  advance  would  expose  his  army  to  starvation. 
And,  as  perplexities  thickened  around  him,  while  he  delayed  for  a 
fresh  supply,  the  courage  and  resolution  of  the  American  army 
were  restored.  General  Gates  arrived  to  assume  its  command. 
His  abilities  and  daring  supplied  fresh  impulses  of  enthusiasm  in 
the  American  camp.  The  word  went  forth  that  Burgoyne  was  in 
their  power,  and  the  army  was  swelled  by  militia  and  volunteers 
until  it  far  exceeded  that  of  the  royalists. 

Meantime  American  enterprise  did  not  sleep.  The  plan  of  re 
taking  Ticonderoga  was  suggested  and  adopted.  General  Lincoln 
accepted  the  task.  Dividing  his  squadrons  into  two  divisions  of 
five  hundred  men,  under  Colonels  Brown  and  Johnson,  he  marched 
on  Ticonderoga.  Brown,  arriving  by  the  landing  at  Lake  George, 
surprised  all  the  outposts  from  that  point  to  the  fort.  On  the  13th 
of  September,  he  stormed  Mount  Defiance  and  Mount  Hope,  took 
two  hundred  batteaux,  an  armed  sloop,  and  two  hundred  and  ninety 
prisoners,  releasing,  at  the  same  time,  one  hundred  Americans, 
detained  in  those  forts.  The  two  colonels  met  before  Mount  Inde 
pendence  ;  but  finding  an  assault  on  the  fort  impracticable,  did  not 
attempt  it. 

On  the  same  day  that  these  proceedings  were  changing  the  pos 
ture  of  affairs  far  in  his  rear,  Burgoyne,  giving  up  all  communica 
tions  with  his  magazines,  crossed  the  Hudson,  and  was  in  rapid 
march  upon  the  American  position,  near  Stillwater.  Within  two 
miles  of  Gates's  intrenchments,  on  the  19th  of  September,  he  took 
possession  of  the  heights  which  commanded  the  camp  of  the  latter. 
The  Americans,  buoyant  with  recent  victory,  and  reliance  on  their 
general,  received  him  with  alacrity.  Scarcely  were  Burgoyne's 
positions  formed,  when  the  din  of  battle  raged  on  the  intervening 
plain.  Detachment  after  detachment  hurried  from  both  camps  to 
the  scene  of  action.  The  outer  posts  at  each  side  were  repeated Jy 
won  and  lost,  and  victory  hovered  over  the  field  of  battle  for  several 
hours,  as  if  undecided  which  army  to  descend  upon.  Many  a 


BATTLE   OF    STILLWATER.  311 

bloody  corpse  covered  the  plain ;  and  among  them  were  more  than 
a  proportion  of  the  bravest  officers.  In  the  midst  of  the  terrible  din 
and  carnage,  the  American  riflemen  took  post  in  lofty  trees,  from 
which  they  poured  a  destructive  fire  on  the  enemy.  Night  fell 
upon  the  scene  to  close  the  work  of  havoc.  There  was  no  victory, 
and  no  defeat.  The  British  lost  five  hundred  men,  and  the  Ame 
ricans  little  less  than  four  hundred.  But  that  was  not  the  only 
result.  The  Indians  in  Burgoyne's  camp,  naturally  disrelishing 
the  service  in  which  hunger  and  hard  fighting  were  substituted  for 
the  plunder  and  vengeance,  and  revel  they  were  promised,  fled  in 
numbers  from  the  camp.  His  situation  became  most  precarious. 
Every  day  dimmed  his  hopes,  and  accumulated  his  difficulties. 
From  his  anxious  calculations,  however,  the  idea  of  retreat  was 
excluded.  While  in  these  difficulties,  intelligence  was  brought 
him  that  General  Clinton  was  advancing  from  New  York  to  his 
relief.  This  was  cheering.  His  answer  was,  that  he  could  main 
tain  himself  till  the  12th  of  October,  and  no  longer.  Whether  this 
message  reached  Clinton  we  know  not ;  but  that  general,  having 
reduced  Fort  Montgomery,  after  a  brave  resistance,  and  thus  opened 
an  undisturbed  passage  to  Albany,  indulged  his  army  of  three 
thousand  men  in  unrestrained  rapine  and  devastation.  Gates  heard 
with  pain,  that  the  king's  generals  sank  their  profession  in  rapine 
and  unlicensed  libertinism.  He  remonstrated  by  letter,  but  in 
vain.  The  12th  of  October,  the  day  which  was  to  close  the  fatal 
term  beyond  which  there  was  no  means  of  safety,  was  fast  approach 
ing.  The  rations  of  the  men  were  stinted;  the  savage  allies  fled  to 
the  forests  ;  there  was  no  ray  of  hope  from  Clinton's  army.  Gates 
was  sedulously  occupying  every  favourable  position  for  preventing 
his  enemy's  escape.  But  Burgoyne,  brave  in  every  extremity, 
determined  to  foil  him.  With  this  view,  on  the  7th  of  October,  a 
movement  was  made  towards  the  American  left,  so  as  to  keep  an 
open  space  at  least  at  one  side.  One  thousand  chosen  men  at 
tempted  this  movement.  A  sudden  shock  answered  their  first 
evolution.  But  it  was  met  by  equal  bravery.  The  attack  became 
general  along  the  entire  line  of  this  division. 

Fierce,  and  hot,  and  stubborn  was  that  encounter,  and  meantime 
another  division  of  the  American  army  was  forcing  its  way  to  the 
right  of  the  British  thus  engaged,  so  as  to  intercept  their  retreat  to 
the  camp.  Two  more  regiments  ordered  from  the  British  camp, 
disputed  this  passage.  Another  charge  on  Burgoyne's  left,  under 
whose  well-directed  strength  it  reeled  backward,  threw  the  whole 
division  into  confusion,  and  its  total  ruin  was  only  prevented  by  the 


312  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

bravery  of  the  two  regiments  ordered  out  to  secure  its  retreat.  The 
entire  British  forces  quickly  formed  behind  the  front  lines  of  their 
entrenchments,  upon  which  the  impetuosity  of  Arnold  was  urging 
the  concentrated  strength  of  his  brigade.  The  obstacles  were  too 
great  even  for  him  ;  but,  baulked  in  his  first  attempt,  he  flew  to  a 
fresh  regiment,  which  he  led  on  to  the  redoubt  defended  by  Breck- 
man.  Breckman  fell  at  his  post ;  and  Arnold,  now  within  the 
lines,  was  hotly  pursuing  their  defenders  as  they  retired  still  firing. 
Before  they  took  shelter  within  the  inner  intrenchments,  they 
wheeled  round  and  discharged  a  joint  volley.  Arnold  fell,  wounded  ; 
but  the  battle,  then  becoming  general,  was  interrupted  by  the  dark 
ness  of  night. 

The  Americans  took  two  hundred  prisoners,  nine  pieces  of  artil 
lery,  and  the  entire  tents  and  stores  of  a  German  brigade.  Among 
the  British  slain  were  Generals  Frazer  and  Clarke ;  Burgoyne 
narrowly  escaped,  more  than  one  ball  having  passed  through  his 
hat  and  clothes.  The  next  day  was  one  of  deep  anxiety  to  Bur 
goyne.  His  forces  remained  in  order  of  battle  and  under  arms, 
but  no  attack  was  made  on  them.  He  clearly  saw  his  position  was 
no  longer  tenable,  and  next  morning  the  Americans  discovered  his 
camp  completely  abandoned.  Instant  precautions  were  taken,  and 
his  new  position  was  soon  more  dangerous  than  the  former. 

The  12th  of  October  came  and  went.  Burgoyne,  finding  his 
hope  of  succour  blasted,  stood  boldly  at  bay  with  his  fate.  Deter 
mined  to  break  the  armed  circle  that  was  closing  around  him,  he 
retreated  on  Saratoga.  Fatal  field  for  that  army  that  was  "not  to 
retreat."  Here  his  first  attempt  was  to  clear  a  way  for  a  further 
retreat  on  Lake  George.  Artificers  and  workmen  were  despatched 
to  execute  this  task,  but  being  abandoned  by  the  regiments  that 
protected  them,  they  retired  in  confusion  and  gave, up  the  works. 
Nothing  remained  but  to  escape  by  night  to  Fort  Edward.  This 
,  attempt  was  in  preparation,  when  scouts  brought  intelligence  that 
the  Americans  were  posted  in  great  force  at  the  only  ford  on  the 
river  by  which  that  retreat  could  be  effected.  Thus  hemmed  in, 
baffled,  wasted,  and  defeated,  Burgoyne  sent  a  message  to  Gates, 
requesting  to  know  on  what  honourable  terms  he  would  receive  his 
capitulation.  "On  the  terms,"  said  that  general,  "of  surrendering 
prisoners  of  war,  grounding  your  arms."  "Sooner,"  replied  Bur 
goyne,  "  than  ground  our  arms  in  our  own  encampment,  we  will 
rush  on  our  enemy,  determined  to  take  no  quarter."  A  more  ac 
commodating  disposition,  and  a  humane  desire  to  avoid  the  effusion 


^   Of  THE 

UNIVERSITY 


SURRENDER  OF  BURGOYNE.     .   315 

of  blood,  induced  him,  on  the  16th  of  October,  to  agree  to  terms 
of  capitulation  as  follows  : 

"The  troops  under  General  Burgoyne  to  march  out  of  their  camp 
with  the  honours  of  war,  and  the  artillery  of  the  intrenchments  to 
the  verge  of  the  river,  where  the  arms  and  artillery  are  to  be  left. 
The  arms  to  be  piled  by  word  of  command  from  their  own  offi 
cers.  A  free  passage  to  be  granted  to  the  army  under  Lieutenant- 
general  Burgoyne  to  Great  Britain,  upon  condition  of  not  serving 
again  in  North  America  during  the  present  contest ;  and  the  port 
of  Boston  to  be  assigned  for  the  entry  of  the  transports  to  receive 
the  troops  whenever  General  H^we  shall  so  order.  The  army  under 
Lieutenant-general  Burgoyne  to  march  to  Massachusetts  bay,  by 
the  easiest  route,  and  to  be  quartered  in,  near,  or  as  convenient 
as  possible  to  Boston.  The  troops  to  be  provided  with  provisions 
by  General  Gates's  orders,  at  the  same  rate  of  rations  as  his  own 
army.  All  officers  to  retain  their  carriages,  bat-horses,  and  no 
baggages  to  be  molested  or  searched.  The  officers  to  be  permitted 
on  their  parol,  and  to  be  permitted  to  wear  their  side-arms." 

On  the  night  of  the  day  that  the  British  army  paid  this  homage 
to  American  valour  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  thus  redeeming 
the  boast  that  retreat  was  not  for  them,  Gates  received  at  his  table 
Burgoyne  and  his  staff,  and  the  officers  who  so  often  panted  to 
cross  each  other  on  the  field  of  death,  exchanged  the  most  cordial 
civilities,  and  paid  each  other  that  mutual  honour  and  respect,  in 
discharge  of  which  there  is,  under  every  circumstance,  a  generous 
emulation  between  the  brave. 

The  number  of  men  contributing  to  that  pile  of  arms  was  five 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety,  the  remnant  of  the  noble 
army,  at  least  ten  thousand  strong,  independent  of  the  Indian  aux 
iliaries,  that  crossed  the  States'  boundary  in  search  of  sure  conquest 
and  glory.  The  northern  American  army  now  amounted  to  nearly 
fourteen  thousand  men. 

This  achievement  led  a  few  unthinking  men  to  suppose  that  the 
arms  of  America  might  be  more  fortunate  if  General  Gates  was 
elevated  to  the  supreme  command.  He  himself  seems  not  to  have 
been  hostile  to  the  prevalence  of  such  an  opinion,  and  some  parts 
of  his  conduct  are  sufficient  to  show  that  if  it  did  not  originate  with 
him,  he  was  not  the  last  to  adopt  it.  Not  only  did  he  neglect  to 
communicate  to  General  Washington  the  success  of  his  army,  after 
the  victory  of  the  7th  of  October  had  opened  to  him  the  prospect 
of  finally  destroying  the  enemy  opposed  to  him  ;  but  he  carried  on 
a  correspondence  with  General  Conway,  in  which  that  officer  ex- 


316  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

pressed  himself  with  great  contempt  of  the  commander-in-chief ; 
and  on  the  disclosure  of  this  circumstance,  General  Gates  had 
demanded  the  name  of  the  informer  in  a  letter  expressed  in  terms 
by  no  means  conciliatory,  and  which  was  passed  through  the  hands 
of  Congress — a  very  extraordinary  circumstance  in  the  case  of  a 
general  communicating  with  his  commander.  This  letter,  dated 
Albany,  December  8th,  1777,  was  in  the  following  words: 

"I  shall  not  attempt  to  describe  what,  as  a  private  gentleman,  I 
cannot  help  feeling,  on  representing  to  my  mind  the  disagreeable 
situation  in  which  confidential  letters  when  exposed  to  public  inspec 
tion  may  place  an  unsuspecting  correspondent ;  but,  as  a  public 
officer,  I  conjure  your  excellency  to  give  me  all  the  assistance  you 
can,  in  tracing  out  the  author  of  the  infidelity,  which  puts  extracts 
from  General  Conway's  letters  to  me  into  your  hands.  Those  let 
ters  have  been  stealingly  copied ;  but  which  of  them,  when,  and 
by  whom,  is  to  me,  as  yet,  an  unfathomable  secret.  There  is  not 
one  officer  in  my  suite,  nor  amongst  those  who  have  free  access  to 
me,  upon  whom  I  could,  with  the  least  justification  to  myself,  fix 
the  suspicion ;  and  yet  my  uneasiness  may  deprive  me  of  the  use 
fulness  of  the  worthiest  men.  It  is,  I  believe,  in  your  excellency's 
power  to  do  me  and  the  United  States  a  very  important  service,  by 
detecting  a  wretch  who  may  betray  me,  and  capitally  injure  the 
very  operations  under  your  immediate  directions.  For  this  reason, 
sir,  I  beg  your  excellency  will  favour  me  with  the  proof  you  can 
procure  to  that  effect.  But  the  crime  being  eventually  so  important, 
that  the  least  loss  of  time  may  be  attended  with  the  worst  conse 
quences,  and  it  being  unknown  to  me,  whether  the  letter  came  to 
you  from  a  member  of  Congress  or  from  an  officer,  I  shall  have  the 
honour  of  transmitting  a  copy  of  this  to  the  president,  that  the  Con 
gress  may,  in  concert  with  your  excellency,  obtain  as  soon  as  pos 
sible  a  discovery  wrhich  so  deeply  affects  the  safety  of  the  states. 
Crimes  of  that  magnitude  ought  not  to  remain  unpunished.  I  have 
the  honour  to  be,  &c.  "  HORATIO  GATES." 

General  Washington  sent  the  following  answer  to  this  letter  to 
General  Gates,  through  the  hands  of  the  President  of  Congress, 
saying  that  the  unaccountable  course  of  General  Gates  compelled 
him  so  to  transmit  it.  It  is  dated  Valley  Forge,  4th  January, 
1778,  and  is  as  follows  : — 

"Sir,  your  letter  of  the  8th  ultimo  came  to  my  hands  a  few  days 
ago,  and,  to  my  great  surprise,  informed  me  that  a  copy  of  it  had 
been  sent  to  Congress,  for  what  reason  I  find  myself  unable  to 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF  GATES  AND    CONWAY.  317 

account ;  but  as  some  end  doubtless  was  intended  to  be  answered 
by  it,  I  am  laid  under  the  disagreeable  necessity  of  returning  my 
answer  through  the  same  channel,  lest  any  member  of  that  honour 
able  body  should  harbour  an  unfavourable  suspicion  of  my  having 
practised  some  indirect  means  to  come  at  the  contents  of  the  con 
fidential  letters  between  you  and  General  Con  way. 

"I  am  to  inform  you,  then,  that  Colonel  Wilkinson,  on  his  way 
to  Congress,  in  the  month  of  October  last,  fell  in  with  Lord  Stirling 
at  Reading,  and,  not  in  confidence  that  I  ever  understood,  informed 
his  aide-de-camp,  Major  McWilliams,  that  General  Conway  had 
wTritten  this  to  you  :  <  Heaven *has  been  determined  to  save  your 
country,  or  a  weak  general  and  bad  counsellors  would  have  ruined 
it.'  Lord  Stirling,  from  motives  of  friendship,  transmitted  the  ac 
count  with  this  remark :  <  The  enclosed  was  communicated  by 
Colonel  Wilkinson  to  Major  McWilliams.  Such  wicked  duplicity 
of  conduct,  I  shall  always  think  it  my  duty  to  detect.  In  conse 
quence  of  this  information,  and  without  having  any  thing  more  in 
view  than  merely  to  show  that  gentleman  that  I  was  not  unapprized 
of  his  intriguing  disposition,  I  wrote  to  him  a  letter  in  these 
words  : — 

"  <  Sir,  a  letter  which  I  received  last  night,  contained  the  follow 
ing  paragraph : — «  In  a  letter  from  General  Conway  to  General 
Gates,  he  says,  Heaven  has  been  determined  to  save  your  country ,  or 
a  weak  general  and  bad  counsellors  would  have  ruined  it."  I  am 
sir,  &c.' 

"Neither  the  letter,  nor  the  information  which  occasioned  it, 
was  ever,  directly  or  indirectly,  communicated  to  me  by  a  single 
officer  in  this  army,  out  of  my  own  family,  excepting  the  Marquis 
de  Lafayette,  who,  having  been  spoken  to  on  this  subject  by 
General  Conway,  applied  for,  and  saw,  under  injunctions  of 
secrecy,  the  letter  which  contained  Wilkinson's  information  ;  so 
desirous  was  I  of  concealing  every  matter  that  could,  in  its  conse 
quences,  give  the  smallest  interruption  to  the  tranquillity  of  this 
army,  or  afford  a  gleam  of  hope  to  the  enemy  by  dissensions 
therein. 

"  Thus,  sir,  with  an  openness  and  candour  which  I  hope  will 
ever  characterize  and  mark  my  conduct,  have  I  complied  with  your 
request.  The  only  concern  I  feel  upon  the  occasion,  finding  how 
matters  stand,  is,  that  in  doing  this,  I  have  necessarily  been  obliged 
to  name  a  gentleman,  who,  I  am  persuaded,  although  I  never  ex 
changed  a  word  with  him  upon  the  subject,  thought  he  was  rather 
doing  an  act  of  justice,  than  committing  an  act  of  infidelity  ;  and 

2o  2 


318  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

sure  I  am,  that  till  Lord  Stirling's  letter  came  to  my  hands,  I  never 
knew  that  General  Con  way,  whom  I  viewed  in  the  light  of  a 
stranger  to  you,  was  a  correspondent  of  yours ;  much  less  did  I 
suspect  that  I  was  the  subject  of  your  confidential  letters.  Pardon 
me  then  for  adding,  that  so  far  from  conceiving  that  the  safety  .of 
the  States  can  be  effected,  or  in  the  smallest  degree  injured,  by  a 
discovery  of  this  kind,  or  that  I  should  be  called  upon  in  such 
solemn  terms  to  point  out  the  author,  I  considered  the  information 
as  coming  from  yourself,  and  given  with  a 'friendly  view  to  fore 
warn,  and  consequently  to  forearm  me,  against  a  secret  enemy,  or, 
in  other  words,  a  dangerous  incendiary  ;  in  which  character,  sooner 
or  later,  this  country  will  know  General  Conway.  But  in  this,  as 
in  other  matters  of  late,  I  have  found  myself  mistaken." 

Other  letters  passed  between  Washington,  Gates,  and  Conway ; 
but  each  succeeding  one  only  the  more  clearly  set  forth  the  wicked 
ness  and  ambition  of  those  who,  for  their  own  aggrandizement, 
would  not  scruple  to  sacrifice  the  welfare  or  even  the  existence  of 
their  infant  country.  Lafayette,  who  was  early  made  acquainted 
with  the  facts,  warmly  sympathized  with  Washington,  and  took 
every  opportunity  of  expressing  his  undiminished  confidence  in 
him,  though  in  the  presence  only  of  his  opponents. 

Anonymous  papers,  containing  high  charges  against  him,  and 
urging  the  necessity  of  placing  some  more  active  and  efficient  per 
son  at  the  head  of  the  army,  wrere  sent  to  Henry  Laurens,  the  Pre 
sident  of  Congress,  Patrick  Henry,  the  Governor  of  Virginia,  and 
others.  These  gentlemen  forwarded  the  papers  to  the  commander- 
in-chief,  warning  him  to  be  on  his  guard  against  a  dangerous  plot, 
which,  from  their  tenor,  they  conceived  to  be  forming;  expressing, 
at  the  same  time,  their  high  regard  for  him,  and  their  sense  of  the 
injustice  of  the  groundless  censures  contained  in  them.  To  Mr. 
Laurens,  he  replied  : — "I  cannot  sufficiently  express  the  obligation 
I  feel  to  you,  for  your  friendship  and  politeness  upon  an  occasion 
in  which  I  am  so  deeply  interested.  I  was  not  unapprized,  that  a 
malignant  faction  had  been  for  some  time  forming  to  my  prejudice ; 
which,  conscious  as  I  am  of  having  ever  done  all  in  my  power  to 
answer  the  important  purposes  of  the  trust  reposed  in  me,  could 
not  but  give  me  some  pain  on  a  personal  account.  But  my  chief 
concern  arises  from  an  apprehension  of  the  dangerous  consequences 
which  intestine  dissensions  may  produce  to  the  common  cause. 

"  As  I  have  no  other  view  than  to  promote  the  public  good,  and 
am  unambitious  of  honours  not  founded  in  the  approbation  of  my 
country,  I  would  not  desire  in  the  least  degree  to  suppress  a  free 


CHARGES   AGAINST   WASHINGTON.  319 

spirit  of  inquiry  into  any  part  of  my  conduct,  that  even  faction  it 
self  may  deem  reprehensible.  The  anonymous  paper  handed  to 
you  exhibits  many  serious  charges,  and  it  is  my  wish  that  it  should 
be  submitted  to  Congress.  This  I  am  the  more  inclined  to,  as  the 
suppression  or  concealment  may  possibly  involve  you  in  embarrass 
ments  hereafter,  since  it  is  uncertain  how  many  or  who  may  be 
privy  to  the  contents. 

«  My  enemies  take  an  ungenerous  advantage  of  me.  They  know 
the  delicacy  of  my  situation,  and  that  motives  of  policy  deprive  me 
of  the  defence  I  might  otherwise  make  against  their  insidious 
attacks.  They  know  I  cannot  combat  their  insinuations,  however 
injurious,  without  disclosing  secrets  which  it  is  of  the  utmost  mo 
ment  to  conceal.  But  why  should  I  expect  to  be  exempt  from 
censure — the  unfailing  lot  of  an  elevated  station  ?  Merit  and  ta 
lents,  with  which  I  can  have  no  pretensions  of  rivalship,  have  ever 
been  subject  to  it.  My  heart  tells  me,  that  it  has  been  my  unre- 
mitted  aim  to  do  the  best  that  circumstances  would  permit ;  yet  I 
may  have  been  very  often  mistaken  in  my  judgment  of  the  means, 
and  may  in  many  instances  deserve  the  imputation  of  error.  I  can 
not  forbear  repeating,  that  I  have  a  grateful  sense  of  the  favourable 
disposition  you  have  manifested  to  me  in  this  affair,  and  beg  you 
will  believe  me  to  be,  with  sentiments  of  real  esteem  and  regard, 
sir,  &c." 

His  answer  to  Mr.  Henry  was  of  the  same  nature. 

Not  content  with  thus  attempting  to  poison  the  minds  of  Wash 
ington's  firmest  friends,  by  spreading  malignant  insinuations  against 
his  character  as  a  general,  his  enemies  industriously  circulated  a 
report  that  it  was  his  intention  to  resign  his  commission  of  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  American  army,  and  retiring,  to  leave  the 
people  to  fight  their  own  battles.  On  this  subject  he  wrote  to 
Doctor  Gordon,  a  gentleman  of  New  England,  as  follows  : 

«  I  can  assure  you,  that  no  person  ever  heard  me  drop  an  expres 
sion  that  had  a  tendency  to  resignation.  The  same  principles  that 
led  me  to  embark  in  the  opposition  to  the  arbitrary  claims  of  Great 
Britain,  operate  with  additional  force  at  this  day  ;  nor  is  it  my  de 
sire  to  withdraw  my  services  while  they  are  considered  of  import 
ance  in  the  present  contest ;  but  to  report  a  design  of  this  kind 
is  among  the  arts  which  those  who  are  endeavouring  to  effect  a 
change  are  practising,  to  bring  it  to  pass.  I  have  said,  and  I  still  do 
say,  that  there  is  not  an  officer  in  the  service  of  the  United  States, 
that  would  return  to  the  sweets  of  domestic  life  with  more  heartfelt 
joy  than  I  should.  But  I  would  have  this  declaration  accompanied 


320  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

by  these  sentiments,  that,  while  the  public  are  satisfied  with  my 
endeavours,  I  mean  not  to  shrink  from  the  cause.  But  the  moment 
her  voice,  not  that  of  faction,  calls  upon  me  to  resign,  I  shall  do  it 
with  as  much  pleasure  as  ever  the  weary  traveller  retired  to  rest. 
This,  my  dear  doctor,  you  are  at  liberty  to  assert  ;  but,  in  doing 
it,  I  would  have  nothing  formal.  All  things  will  come  right  again, 
and  soon  recover  their  proper  tone,  as  the  design  is  not  only  seen 
through,  but  reprobated." 

These  machinations  finally  resulted  in  the  shame  and  destruction 
of  all  concerned  in  them,  and  redounded  to  the  honour  of  Wash 
ington.  Even  the  troops  who  fought  under  General  Gates  indig 
nantly  resisted  this  attempt  to  raise  him  to  the  place  of  their  be 
loved  commander-in-chief.  The  resentment  of  the  main  army 
was  such,  that  none  of  the  known  enemies  of  the  general  dared  to 
show  themselves  in  the  camp.  General  Conway,  in  the  spring  of 
1778,  wrote  an  impertinent  letter  to  Congress,  in  which  he  inti 
mated  a  wish  to  resign  his  commission,  unless  they  should  give 
him  a  separate  command,  instead  of  serving  under  General  Mc- 
Dougall.  A  motion  to  accept  his  resignation  was  carried,  without 
a  dissenting  voice.  The  intelligence  of  this  created  such  astonish 
ment,  that,  after  writing  a  letter,  saying  that  he  had  been  misun 
derstood,  in  supposing  that  he  intended  to  resign,  he  himself  pro 
ceeded  to  York,  appeared  before  Congress,  and  claimed  to  be 
restored.  It  was  in  vain.  His  freedom  of  speech  soon  after  in 
volved  him  in  difficulties  with  General  Cadwallader  of  Philadel 
phia,  with  whom  he  fought  a  duel,  and  thinking  himself  mortally 
wounded,  addressed  the  following  confession  to  General  Wash 
ington  : 

"  I  find  myself  just  able  to  hold  the  pen  during  a  few  minutes, 
and  take  this  opportunity  to  express  my  sincere  grief  for  having 
done,  written,  or  said  any  thing  disagreeable  to  your  excellency. 
My  career  will  soon  be  over  ;  therefore,  justice  and  truth  prompt 
me  to  declare  my  last  sentiments.  You  are,  in  my  eyes,  the  great 
and  good  man.  May  you  long  enjoy  the  love,  veneration  and 
esteem  of  these  states,  whose  liberties  you  have  asserted  by  your 
virtues." 

The  end  of  Conway  was  not  as  near  as  he  supposed.  He 
recovered  rapidly,  and  before  the  end  of  the  year  returned  to 
France. 

To  add  still  more  to  the  distresses  of  Washington,  a  pamphlet, 
lately  published  in  England,  was,  during  the  encampment  of  the 
army  at  Valley  Forge,  republished  in  the  papers  of  New  York  and 


SPURIOUS    LETTERS.  321 

Philadelphia.  The  title  of  this  pamphlet  was,  «  Letters  from 
General  Washington  to  several  of  his  friends,  in  the  year  1776  ; 
in  which  are  set  forth  a  fairer  and  fuller  view  of  American  politics 
than  ever  yet  transpired,  or  the  public  could  be  made  acquainted 
with  through  any  other  channel."  They  purport  to  have  been 
written  in  New  York,  in  June  and  July,  1776,  to  Mr.  Lund  Wash 
ington,  Mrs.  Washington,  and  Mr.  Custis,  and  to  have  been  found 
in  the  possession  of  General  Washington's  servant,  who  had  been 
left  behind,  sick,  when  Fort  Lee  was  evacuated.  The  design  of 
the  fabrication  of  these  letters  seems  to  have  been  to  disparage 
General  Washington  in  the  minds  of  his  countrymen,  by  repre 
senting  him  as  opposed  to  the  war  writh  Great  Britain.  One  of 
these  pamphlets  was  sent  to  General  Washington  by  General 
Henry  Lee,  of  Virginia,  in  the  beginning  of  May,  1778.  He  had 
before  heard  of  its  existence,  and  had  seen  one  or  two  of  them 
which  were  published  in  New  York.  He  acknowledged  the  re 
ceipt  of  the  pamphlet,  on  the  25th  of  May,  and  wrote  to  General 
Lee: 

"  If  any  thing  of  greater  moment  had  occurred,  than  declaring 
that  every  word  contained  in  the  pamphlet,  which  you  were  oblig 
ing  enough  to  send  me,  was  spurious,  I  should  not  have  suffered 
your  favour  of  the  6th  instant  to  remain  so  long  unacknowledged. 
These  letters  are  written  with  a  great  deal  of  art.  The  intermix 
ture  of  so  many  family  circumstances  (which,  by  the  by,  want 
foundation  in  truth)  gives  an  air  of  plausibility  which  renders  the 
villany  greater  ;  as  the  whole  is  a  contrivance  to  answer  the  most 
diabolical  purposes.  Who  the  author  of  them  is,  I  know  not. 
From  information,  or  acquaintance,  he  must  have  had  some 
knowledge  of  the  component  parts  of  my  family  ;  but  he  has 
most  egregiously  mistaken  facts,  in  several  instances.  The 
design  of  his  labours  is  as  clear  as  the  sun  in  its  meridian  bright 
ness.7' 

The  author  of  these  letters  was  never  discovered  ;  and  they 
would  not  have  been  noticed  in  this  place,  had  they  not  been  re- 
published  towards  the  close  of  his  presidency,  for  party  purposes, 
when  he  contented  himself  with  denying  their  authenticity  in  a 
letter  to  the  secretary  of  state. 

During  this  year  the  Congress  adopted  articles  of  confederation 
for  the  government  of  the  United  States.  After  much  discussion, 
at  thirty-nine  sittings,  the  articles  were  approved  by  Congress, 
transmitted  to  the  several  state  legislatures,  and,  meeting  with  their 
approbation,  were  ratified  by  all  the  delegates  on  the  15th  of  No- 
41 


322 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


vember,  1777.  Though  the  affairs  of  the  new  government, 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  wore  the  most  gloomy  as 
pect,  Congress  maintained  an  erect  posture,  and  alter  having 
thus  united  their  several  states  into  one  confederacy,  carried  011 
the  subsequent  military  operations  under  its  provisions  and  au 
thority. 

The  great  powers  of  the  continent  of  Europe  had  been  attentive 
observers  of  the  struggle  between  Great  Britain  and  her  American 
colonies,  and  to  those  powers  the  Americans  made  an  early  appli 
cation  for  assistance.  But  the  strength  and  vengeance  of  Britain 
were  not  to  be  invoked  on  slight  grounds.  _The  first  power  v™i- 


\ 


rageous  enough  to  declare  herself  the  friend  and  ally  of  the  United 
States  was  France.  The  battles  of  the  Brandywine,  Germantown, 
and  the  Convention  of  Saratoga,  were  already  preparing  the  way 
for  a  treaty  between  France  and  the  United  States. 


HEAD-QUARTERS      AT      V  ALT.  FT      FORG3. 


TREATY  WITH  FRANCE. 


323 


MONMOUTH    BATTLE-GROUND. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 


of 


OON  after  the  intelligence  of  the 
capture  of  Burgoyne's  army  reach 
ed  Europe,  the  court  of  France 
concluded,  at  Paris,  treaties  of 
alliance  and  commerce  with  the 
the  United  States.  Dr.  Franklin, 
Mr.  Deane,  and  Mr.  Lee  had  been 
appointed  commissioners  to  pro 
ceed  to  France  for  the  purpose  of 
concluding  this  treaty  as  early  as 
September,  1776.  Their  efforts 
had  hitherto  been  baffled  by  the 

vacillating  counsels  of  the  French  court,  which  were  affected  by 
every  intelligence  and  even  report  which  arrived  from  America. 
Nothing  could  be  effected  towards  the  conclusion  of  an  open  and 
public  treaty  until  December,  1777,  when  the  momentous  tidings 
of  Burgoyne's  surrender  gave  a  decisive  turn  to  the  French 
cabinet. 

On  the  16th  of  December,  M.  Gerard  intimated  to  the  commis- 


324  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

sioners,  that,  after  long  deliberation,  the  king  had  determined  to 
acknowledge  the  independence  of  the  United  States,  and  also  to 
afford  them  support,  though  thereby  involving  himself  in  an  ex 
pensive  war.  It  was  frankly  admitted  that  he  thus  acted,  not 
merely  from  a  friendly  disposition  towards  th^m,  but  for  the  promo 
tion  of  his  own  political  interests. 

On  the  8th  of  January,  1778,  Louis  XVI.  wrote  a  letter  to  his 
uncle,  the  King  of  Spain,  referring  to  Britain  as  their  common  and 
inveterate  enemy.  During  the  pending  contest,  he  had  afforded  to 
the  colonies  supplies  of  money  and  stores,  at  which  England  had 
taken  deep  umbrage,  and  would  no  doubt  seize  the  first  opportunity 
of  avenging  herself. 

The  Americans  had  indeed  shown  that  they  were  not  to  be  sub 
dued,  but  Britain  might  succeed  in  her  present  attempt  to  form  a 
close  and  friendly  alliance  with  them,  and  thus  turn  her  arms  un 
divided  against  her  continental  enemies  :  now,  therefore,  was  the 
time  to  form  such  a  connection  as  might  prevent  any  re-union  be 
tween  them  and  the  mother-country. 

In  pursuance  of  these  views,  there  was  concluded  on  the  6th  of 
February,  a  treaty  of  commerce,  accompanied  by  one  of  defensive 
alliance,  in  the  well-foreseen  case  of  war  being  the  result.  The 
allies  were  to  make  common  cause  with  the  States,  and  to  maintain 
their  absolute  independence.  Whatever  conquests  should  be  made 
on  the  continent,  were  to  be  secured  to  them ;  but  those  in  the 
West  Indies  to  the  crown  of  France.  The  treaty  between  France 
and  America,  though  soon  generally  known,  was  for  some  time 
studiously  concealed  from  the  British  minister.  On  the  13th  of 
March,  however,  the  French  ambassador  at  London  delivered  a 
note  referring  to  the  United  States  as  already  in  full  possession  of 
independence,  whence  his  majesty  had  concluded  with  them  a 
treaty  of  friendship  and  commerce,  and  would  take  effectual  mea 
sures  to  prevent  its  interruption.  Professions  were  made  of  the 
king's  anxiety  to  cultivate  a  good  understanding  with  Britain  and 
his  sincere  disposition  for  peace,  of  which  it  was  ironically  said 
that  new  proofs  would  be  found  in  this  communication.  On  the 
17th,  this  document  was  laid  before  Parliament,  with  a  message 
from  the  crown,  stating  that  the  British  ambassadors  had  in  con 
sequence  been  ordered  to  withdraw  from  Paris,  and  expressing 
trust  in  the  zealous  and  affectionate  support  of  the  people  for  re 
pelling  this  unprovoked  aggression,  combined  with  insult.  An 
address,  echoing  the  message,  was  moved  in  both  Houses  ;  but  the 
opposition  reproached  ministers  with  not  having  duly  foreseen  or 


PROJECT  FOR   CONCILIATION.  325 

prepared  for  this  emergency  ;  while  a  few  repelled  as  now  hopeless 
the  idea  of  holding  America  under  any  kind  of  dependence.  It 
was  carried,  however,  by  majorities,  in  the  Commons,  of  two  hun 
dred  and  sixty-three  to  one  hundred  and  thirteen  ;  in  the  Lords,  of 
sixty-eight  to  twenty-five.  The  message  for  calling  out  the  militia 
was  sanctioned  without  a  division.* 

Eleven  days  after  the  treaty  between  France  and  America  had 
been  concluded,  17th  February,  the  British  minister  introduced 
into  the  house  a  project  for  conciliation,  founded  on  the  idea  of 
obtaining  a  re-union  of  the  new  States  with  Great  Britain.  This 
consisted  of  two  bills  with  the  following  titles:  "A  bill  for  declar 
ing  the  intention  of  Great  Britain,  concerning  the  exercise  of  the 
right  of  imposing  taxes  writhin  his  majesty's  colonies,  provinces, 
and  plantations  in  North  America  :"  and  a  bill  "to  enable  his  ma 
jesty  to  appoint  commissioners  \vith  sufficient  power,  to  treat,  con 
sult,  and  agree  upon  the  means  of  quelling  the  disorders  now  sub 
sisting  in  certain  of  the  colonies,  plantations,  and  provinces  of 
North  America."  These  bills  were  hurried  through  both  houses 
of  Parliament,  and  before  they  passed  into  acts,  were  copied  and 
sent  across  the  Atlantic,  to  Lord  and  General  Howe.  On  their 
arrival  in  America,  they  were  sent  by  a  flag  to  Congress  at  York- 
town.  When  they  were  received,  21st  of  April,  Congress  was  un 
informed  of  the  treaty  which  their  commissioners  had  lately  con 
cluded  at  Paris.  For  upwards  of  a  year  they  had  not  received 
one  line  of  information  from  them  on  any  subject  whatever.  One 
packet  had  in  that  time  been  received ;  but  all  the  letters  therein 
were  taken  out  before  it  was  put  on  board  the  vessel  which  brought 
it  from  France,  and  blank  papers  put  in  their  stead.  A  committee 
of  Congress  was  appointed  to  examine  these  bills,  and  report  on 
them.  Their  report  was  brought  in  the  day  following,  and  war 
unanimously  adopted.  By  it  they  rejected  the  proposals  of  Great 
Britain. 

The  vigorous  and  firm  language  in  which  Congress  expressed 
their  rejection  of  these  offers,  considered  in  connection  with  the 
circumstance  of  their  being  wholly  ignorant  of  the  late  treaty  with 
France,  exhibits  the  glowing  serenity  of  fortitude.  While  the 
royal  commissioners  were  industriously  circulating  these  bills  in  a 
partial  and  secret  manner,  as  if  they  suspected  an  intention  of  con 
cealing  them  from  the  common  people,  Congress,  trusting  to  the 
good  sense  of  their  constituents,  ordered  them  to  be  forthwith 
printed  for  the  public  information.  Having  directed  the  affairs  of 

*  Murra. 


326  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

their  country  with  an  honest  reference  to  its  welfare,  they  had 
nothing  to  fear  from  the  people  knowing  and  judging  for  themselves. 
They  submitted  the  whole  to  the  public.  Their  report,  after  some 
general  remarks  on  the  bill,  concluded  as  follows :  "  From  all  which 
it  appears  evident  to  your  committee,  that  the  said  bills  are  intended 
to  operate  upon  the  hopes  and  fears  of  the  go*od  people  of  these 
states,  so  as  to  create  divisions  among  them,  and  a  defection  from 
the  common  cause,  now,  by  the  blessing  of  divine  Providence, 
drawing  near  to  a  favourable  issue :  that  they  are  the  sequel  of 
that  insidious  plan  which,  from  the  days  of  the  stamp-act  down  to 
the  present  time,  hath  involved  this  country  in  contention  and 
bloodshed  :  and  that,  as  in  other  cases,  so  in  this,  although  circum 
stances,  may  force  them  at  times  to  recede  from  their  unjustifiable 
claims,  there  can  be  no  doubt  they  will,  as  heretofore,  upon  the 
first  favourable  occasion,  again  display  that  lust  of  domination, 
which  hath  rent  in  twain  the  mighty  empire  of  Britain.  Upon  the 
whole  matter,  the  committee  beg  leave  to  report  it  as  their  opinion, 
that  as  the  Americans  united  in  this  arduous  contest  upon  principles 
of  common  interest,  for  the  defence  of  common  rights  and  privileges, 
which  union  hath  been  cemented  by  common  calamities,  and  by 
mutual  good  offices  and  affection,  so  the  great  cause  for  which  they 
contend,  and  in  which  all  mankind  are .  interested,  must  derive  its 
success  from  the  continuance  of  that  union.  Wherefore,  any  man, 
or  body  of  men,  who  should  presume  to  make  any  separate  or  partial 
convention  or  agreement  with  commissioners  under  the  crown  of 
Great  Britain,  or  any  of  them,  ought  to  be  considered  and  treated 
iis  avowed  enemies  of  these  United  States. 

"And  further,  your  committee  beg  leave  to  report  it  as  their 
opinion,  that  these  United  States  cannot,  with  propriety,  hold  any 
conference  with  any  commissioners  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain, 
unless  they  shall,  as  a  preliminary  thereto,  either  withdraw  their 
fleets  and  armies,  or  else,  in  positive  and  express  terms,  acknow 
ledge  the  independence  of  the  said  states. 

"And  inasmuch  as  it  appears  to  be  the  design  of  the  enemies  of 
these  states  to  lull  them  into  a  fatal  security ;  to  the  end  that  they 
may  act  with  a  becoming  weight  and  importance,  it  is  the  opinion 
of  your  committee  that  the  several  states  be  called  upon  to  use  the 
most  strenuous  exertions  to  have  their  respective  quotas  of  conti 
nental  troops  in  the  field  as  soon  as  possible,  and  that  all  the  militia 
of  the  said  states  be  held  in  readiness  to  act  as  occasion  may  re 


quire." 


The  conciliatory  bills  were  speedily  followed  by  royal  commis- 


PROJECT   FOR    CONCILIATION.  327 

sioners,  deputed  to  solicit  their  reception.  Governor  Johnstone, 
Lord  Carlisle,  and  Mr.  Eden,  appointed  on  this  business,  attempted 
to  open  a  negotiation  on  the  subject.  They  requested  General 
Washington,  on  the  9th  of  June,  to  furnish  a  passport  for  their  secre 
tary,  Dr.  Ferguson,  with  a  letter  from  them  to  Congress ;  but  this 
was  refused,  and  the  refusal  was  unanimously  approved  by  Con 
gress.  They  then  forwarded  in  the  usual  channel  of  communica 
tion  a  letter  addressed,  "  To  his  excellency,  Henry  Laurens,  the 
president,  and  other  the  members  of  Congress,"  in  which  they 
communicated  a  copy  of  their  commission,  and  of  the  acts  of  par 
liament  on  which  it  was  founded ;  and  they  offered  to  concur  in 
every  satisfactory  and  just  arrangement  towards  the  following  among 
other  purposes : 

"To  consent  to  a  cessation  of  hostilities  both  by  sea  and  land  ; 

" To  restore  free  intercourse  ;  to  revive  mutual  affection ;  and 
renew  the  common  benefits  of  naturalization,  through  the  several 
parts  of  this  empire  ; 

"  To  extend  every  freedom  to  trade  that  our  respective  interests 
can  require ; 

«To  agree  that  no  military  forces  shall  be  kept  up  in  the  different 
states  of  North  America  without  the  consent  of  the  general  Con 
gress,  or  particular  assemblies  ; 

"To  concur  in  measures  calculated  to  discharge  the  debts  of 
America,  and  to  raise  the  credit  and  value  of  the  paper  circulation. 

"To  perpetuate  our  union  by  a  reciprocal  deputation  of  an  agent 
or  agents  from  the  different  states,  who  shall  have  the  privilege  of 
a  seat  and  voice  in  the  parliament  of  Great  Britain  ;  or,  if  sent  from 
Britain,  in  that  case  to  have  a  seat  and  voice  in  the  assemblies  of 
the  different  states  to  which  they  may  be  deputed  respectively,  in 
order  to  attend  the  several  interests  of  those  by  whom  they  are  de 
puted  ; 

"In  short,  to  establish  the  power  of  the  respective  legislatures 
in  each  particular  state ;  to  settle  its  revenue,  its  civil  and  military 
establishments  ;  and  to  exercise  a  perfect  freedom  of  legislation 
and  internal  government,  so  that  the  British  states  throughout  North 
America,  acting  with  us  in  peace  and  war  under  one  common  sove 
reign,  may  have  the  irrevocable  enjoyment  of  every  privilege  that  is 
short  of  a  total  separation  of  interests,  or  consistent  with  that  union 
of  force,  on  which  the  safety  of  our  common  religion  and  liberty 
depend." 

A  decided  negative  having  been  already  given,  previous  to  the 
arrival  of  the  British  commissioners,  to  the  overtures  contained  in 


328  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

the  conciliatory  bills,  and  the  intelligence  of  the  treaty  with  France 
having  in  the  mean  time  arrived,  there  was  no  ground  left  for  fur 
ther  deliberation.  President  Laurens,  therefore,  by  order  of  Con 
gress,  on  the  17th  of  June,  returned  the  following  answer : 

"I  have  received  the  letter  from  your  excellencies  of  the  9th  in 
stant  with  the  enclosures,  and  laid  them  before  Congress.  Nothing 
but  an  earnest  desire  to  spare  the  further  effusion  of  blood  could 
have  induced  them  to  read  a  paper  containing  expressions  so  disre 
spectful  to  his  most  Christian  Majesty,  the  good  and  great  ally  of 
these  states,  or  to  consider  propositions  so  derogatory  to  the  honour 
of  an  independent  nation. 

«  The  acts  of  the  British  parliament,  the  commission  from  your 
sovereign,  and  your  letter,  suppose  the  people  of  these  states  to  be 
subjects  of  the  crown  of  Great  Britain  ;  and  are  founded  on  the 
idea  of  dependence,  which  is  utterly  inadmissible. 

"  I  am  further  directed  to  inform  your  excellencies  that  Congress 
are  inclined  to  peace,  notwithstanding  the  unjust  claims  from  which 
this  war  originated,  and  the  savage  manner  in  which  it  hath  been 
conducted.  They  will,  therefore,  be  ready  to  enter  on  the  consi 
deration  of  a  treaty  of  peace  and  commerce  not  inconsistent  with 
treaties  already  subsisting,  when  the  king  of  Great  Britain  shall 
demonstrate  a  sincere  disposition  for  that  purpose.  The  only  solid 
proof  of  this  demonstration  will  be,  an  explicit  acknowledgment 
of  the  independence  of  these  states,  or  the  withdrawing  his  fleets 
and  armies." 

Though  Congress  could  not,  consistently  with  national  honour, 
enter  on  a  discussion  of  the  terms  proposed  by  the  British  commis 
sioners,  yet  some  individuals  of  their  body  ably  proved  the  propriety 
of  rejecting  them.  Among  these,  Gouverneur  Morris  and  William 
Henry  Drayton,  with  great  force  of  argument  and  poignancy  of  wit, 
justified  the  decisive  measures  adopted  by  their  countrymen. 

As  the  British  plan  for  conciliation  was  wholly  founded  on  the 
idea  of  the  states  returning  to  their  allegiance,  it  was  no  sooner 
known  than  rejected.  In  addition  to  the  sacred  ties  of  plighted 
faith  and  national  engagements,  the  leaders  in  Congress  and  the 
legislative  assemblies  of  America  had  tasted  the  sweets  of  power, 
and  were  in  full  possession  of  its  blessings,  with  a  fair  prospect  of 
retaining  them  without  any  foreign  control.  The  war  having 
originated  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain  from  a  lust  of  power,  had 
in  its  progress  compelled  the  Americans  in  self-defence  to  assume 
and  exercise  its  highest  prerogatives.  The  passion  of  human  nature 
which  induced  the  former  to  claim  power,  operated  no  less  forcibly 


PROJECT    FOR    CONCILIATION.  329 

with  the  latter,  against  the  relinquishment  of  it.  After  the  colonies 
had  declared  themselves  independent  states,  had  repeatedly  pledged 
their  honour  to  abide  by  that  declaration,  had  by  the  smiles  of 
Heaven  maintained  it  for  three  campaigns  without  foreign  aid,  after 
the  greatest  monarch  in  Europe  had  entered  into  a  treaty  with  them 
and  guarantied  their  independence ;  after  all  this,  to  expect  popular 
leaders,  in  the  enjoyment  of  power,  voluntarily  to  retire  from  the 
helm  of  government,  to  the  languid  indifference  of  private  life  ;  and 
while  they  violated  national  faith,  at  the  same  time  to  depress  their 
country  from  the  rank  of  sovereign  states  to  that  of  dependent  pro 
vinces,  was  not  more  repugnant  to  universal  experience  than  to  the 
governing  principles  of  the  human  heart. 

The  high-spirited  ardour  of  citizens  in  the  youthful  vigour  of 
honour  and  dignity,  did  not  so  much  as  inquire  whether  greater 
political  happiness  might  be  expected  from  closing  with  the  pro 
posals  of  Great  Britain,  or  by  adhering  to  their  new  allies.  Honour 
forbade  any  balancing  on  the  subject ;  nor  were  its  dictates  dis 
obeyed.  Though  peace  was  desirable,  and  the  offers  of  Great 
Britain  so  liberal,  that  if  proposed  in  due  time  they  would  have  been 
acceptable ;  yet  for  the  Americans,  after  they  had  declared  them 
selves  independent,  and  at  their  own  solicitation  obtained  the  aid 
of  France,  to  desert  their  new  allies  and  to  leave  them  exposed  to 
British  resentment,  incurred  on  their  account,  would  have  argued  a 
total  want  of  honour  and  gratitude.  The  folly  of  Great  Britain  in 
expecting  such  conduct  from  virtuous  freemen,  could  only  be 
exceeded  by  the  baseness  of  America,  had  her  citizens  realized 
that  expectation. 

These  offers  of  conciliation  in  a  great  measure  originated  in  an 
opinion  that  the  Congress  were  supported  by  a  faction,  and  that 
the  great  body  of  the  people  was  hostile  to  independence,  and 
well  disposed  to  reunite  with  Great  Britain.  The  latter  of  these 
assertions  were  true  till  a  certain  period  of  the  contest ;  but  that 
period  was  elapsed.  With  their  new  situation,  new  opinions  and 
attachments  had  taken  place.  The  political  revolution  of  the  go-< 
vernment  was  less  extraordinary  than  that  of  the  style  and  manner 
of  thinking  in  the  United  States.  The  independent  American  citi^ 
zens  saw  with  other  eyes  and  heard  with  other  ears  than  when  they 
were  in  the  condition  of  British  subjects.  That  narrowness  of  sen^ 
timent  which  prevailed  in  England  towards  France,  no  longer 
existed  among  the  Americans.  The  British  commissioners,  unap- 
prized  of  this  real  change  in  the  public  mind,  expected  to  keep  a 
hold  on  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  by  that  illiberally  which. 
42  2E2 


330  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

they  inherited  from  their  forefathers.  Presuming  that  the  love  of 
peace,  and  the  ancient  national  antipathy  to  France  would  counter 
balance  all  other  ties,  they  flattered  themselves  that,  by  persever 
ance,  an  impression  favourable  to  Great  Britain  might  yet  be  made 
on  the  mind  of  America.  They  therefore  renewed  their  efforts  to 
open  a  negotiation  with  Congress,  in  a  letter  of  the  llth  of  July. 
As  they  had  been  informed,  in  answer  to  their  preceding  letter  of 
the  10th  of  June,  that  an  explicit  acknowledgment  of  the  indepen 
dence  of  the  United  States,  or  a  withdrawing  of  their  fleets  and 
armies,  must  precede  an  entrance  on  the  consideration  of  a  treaty 
of  peace,  and  as  neither  branch  of  this  alternative  had  been  com 
plied  with,  it  was  resolved  by  Congress  that  no  answer  should  be 
given  to  their  reiterated  application. 

In  addition  to  his  public  exertions  as  a  commissioner,  Governor 
Johnstone  endeavoured  to  obtain  the  objects  on  which  he  had  been 
sent,  by  opening  a  private  correspondence  with  some  of  the  mem 
bers  of  Congress,  and  other  Americans  of  influence.  He  in  parti 
cular  addressed  himself  to  Henry  Laurens,  Joseph  Reed,  and  Ro 
bert  Morris.  His  letter  to  Henry  Laurens  was  in  these  words : 

"  DEAR  SIR, — I  beg  to  transfer  to  my  friend  Dr.  Ferguson, 
the  private  civilities  which  my  friends  Mr.  Manning  and  Mr. 
Oswald  request  in  my  behalf.  He  is  a  man  of  the  utmost  probity 
and  of  the  highest  esteem  in  the  republic  of  letters. 

"  If  you  should  follow  the  example  of  Britain  in  the  hour  of  her 
insolence,  and  send  us  back  without  a  hearing,  I  shall  hope,  from 
private  friendship,  that  I  may  be  permitted  to  see  the  country,  and 
the  worthy  characters  she  has  exhibited  to  the  world,  upon  making 
the  request  any  way  you  may  point  out." 

The  following  answer  was  immediately  written. 

"  Yorktown,  June  14£/i,  1778. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — Yesterday,  I  was  honoured  with  your  favour  of 
the  10th,  and  thank  you  for  the  transmission  of  those  from  my  dear 
and  worthy  friends,  Mr.  Oswald  and  Mr.  Manning.  Had  Dr.  Fer 
guson  been  the  bearer  of  these  papers,  I  should  have  shown  that 
gentleman  every  degree  of  respect  and  attention  that  times  and 
circumstances  admit  of. 

"It  is,  sir,  for  Great  Britain  to  determine  whether  her  commis 
sioners  shall  return  unheard  by  the  representatives  of  the  United 
States,  or  revive  a  friendship  with  the  citizens  at  large,  and  remain 
among  us  as  long  as  they  please. 

"You  are  undoubtedly  acquainted  with  the  only  terms  upon 


PROJECT   FOR    CONCILIATION.  331 

which  Congress  can  treat  for  accomplishing  this  good  end  ;  terms 
from  which,  although  writing  in  a  private  character,  I  may  venture 
to  assert,  with  great  assurance,  they  will  never  recede,  even  admit 
ting  the  continuance  of  hostile  attempts,  and  that  from  the  rage  of 
war  the  good  people  of  these  states  shall  be  driven  to  commence  a 
treaty  westward  of  yonder  mountains.  And  permit  me  to  add,  sir, 
as  my  humble  opinion,  the  true  interest  of  Great  Britain  in  the 
present  advance  of  our  contest,  will  be  found  in  confirming  our 
independence. 

"  Congress  in  no  hour  have  been  haughty  ;  but  to  suppose  that 
their  minds  are  less  firm  at  present  than  they  were  when  destitute 
of  all  foreign  aid,  and  even  without  expectation  of  an  alliance ; 
when,  upon  a  day  of  general  public  fasting  and  humiliation  in  their 
house  of  worship,  and  in  the  presence  of  God,  they  resolved  *  to 
hold  no  conference  or  treaty  with  any  commissioners  on  the  part  of 
Great  Britain,  unless  they  shall,  as  a  preliminary  thereto,  either 
withdraw  their  fleets  and  armies,  or  in  positive  and  express  terms 
acknowledge  the  independence  of  these  states,'  would  be  irra 
tional. 

"At  a  proper  time,  sir,  I  shall  think  myself  highly  honoured  by 
a  personal  attention,  and  by  contributing  to  render  every  part  of 
these  states  agreeable  to  you ;  but  until  the  basis  of  mutual  confi 
dence  shall  be  established,  I  believe,  sir,  neither  former  private 
friendship,  nor  any  other  consideration,  can  influence  Congress  to 
consent,  that  even  Governor  Johnstone,  a  gentleman  who  has  been 
so  deservedly  esteemed  in  America,  shall  see  the  country.  I  have 
but  one  voice,  and  that  shall  be  against  it.  But  let  me  entreat  you, 
my  dear  sir,  do  not  hence  conclude  that  I  am  deficient  in  affection 
to  my  old  friends,  through  whose  kindness  I  have  obtained  the 
honour  of  the  present  correspondence,  or  that  I  am  not  with  very 
great  personal  respect  and  esteem, 

«  Sir, 
"  Your  most  obedient,  and  most  humble  servant, 

"  HENRY  LAURENS. 
"  The  honourable  George  Johnstone,  Esq.,  Philadelphia." 

In  a  letter  to  Joseph  Reed,  of  April  llth,  Governor  Johnstone 
said  : 

"  The  man  who  can  be  instrumental  in  bringing  us  all  to  act 
once  more  in  harmony,  and  to  unite  together  the  various  powers 
which  this  contest  has  drawn  forth,  will  deserve  more  from  the 
king  and  people,  from  patriotism,  from  humanity,  and  all  the  ten- 


332  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

der  ties  that  are  affected  by  the  quarrel  and  reconciliation,  than 
ever  was  yet  bestowed  on  human  kind." 

On  the  16th  of  June,  he  wrote  to  Robert  Morris : 

«  I  believe  the  men  who  have  conducted  the  affairs  of  America 
incapable  of  being  influenced  by  improper  motives  ;  but  in  all  such 
transactions  there  is  risk.  And  I  think,  that  whoever  ventures 
should  be  secured,  at  the  same  time,  that  honour  and  emolument 
should  naturally  follow  the  fortune  of  those  who  have  steered  the 
vessel  in  the  storm,  and  brought  her  safely  to  port.  I  think  Wash 
ington  and  the  president  have  a  right  to  every  favour  that  grateful 
nations  can  bestow,  if  they  could  once  more  unite  our  interests, 
and  spare  the  miseries  and  devastations  of  war." 

To  Joseph  Reed,  private  information  was  communicated,  on  the 
21st  of  June,  that  it  had  been  intended  by  Governor  Johnstone,  to 
offer  him,  that  in  case  of  his  exerting  his  abilities  to  promote  a  re 
union  of  the  two  countries,  if  consistent  with  his  principles  and 
judgment,  ten  thousand  pounds  sterling,  and  any  office  in  the  colo 
nies  within  his  majesty's  gift.  To  which  Mr.  Reed  replied  :  "  I 
am  not  worth  purchasing :  but  such  as  I  am,  the  king  of  Great 
Britain  is  not  rich  enough  to  do  it." 

Congress,  on  the  9th  of  July,  ordered  all  letters  received  by 
members  of  Congress  from  any  of  the  British  commissioners,  or 
their  agents,  or  from  any  subject  of  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  of  a 
public  nature,  to  be  laid  before  them.  The  above  letters  and  infor 
mation  being  communicated,  Congress  resolved,  "  that  the  same 
cannot  but  be  considered  as  direct  attempts  to  corrupt  their  integ 
rity,  and  that  it  is  incompatible  with  the  honour  of  Congress,  to 
hold  any  manner  of  correspondence  or  intercourse  with  the  said 
George  Johnstone,  Esquire,  especially  to  negotiate  with  him  upon 
affairs  in  which  the  cause  of  liberty  is  interested." 

Their  determination,  with  the  reasons  thereof,  was  expressed  in 
the  form  of  a  declaration,  a  copy  of  which  was  signed  by  the  presi 
dent,  and  sent  by  a  flag  to  the  commissioners  at  New  York.  This 
was  answered  by  Governor  Johnstone,  by  an  angry  publication,  in 
which  he  denied,  or  explained  away  what  had  been  alleged  against 
him.  Lord  Carlisle,  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  and  Mr.  Eden  denied 
having  any  knowledge  of  the  matter  charged  on  Governor  John- 
stone. 

The  commissioners  failing  in  their  attempts  to  negotiate  with 
Congress,  had  no  resource  left  but  to  persuade  the  inhabitants  to 
adopt  a  line  of  conduct,  counter  to  that  of  their  representatives. 
To  this  purpose  they  published  a  manifesto  and  proclamation,  ad- 


FAILURE   OF  THE   NEGOTIATION.  333 

dressed  to  Congress,  the  assemblies,  arid  all  others,  the  free  inha 
bitants  of  the  colonies,  in  which  they  observed  : 

"  The  policy,  as  well  as  the  benevolence  of  Great  Britain,  have 
so  far  checked  the  extremes  of  war,  when  they  tended  to  distress  a 
people  still  considered  as  our  fellow-subjects,  and  to  desolate  a 
country  shortly  to  become  a  source  of  mutual  advantage  ;  but  when 
that  country  professes  the  unnatural  design,  not  only  of  estranging 
herself  from  us,  but  of  mortgaging  herself  and  her  resources  to  our 
enemies,  the  whole  contest  is  changed  :  and  the  question  is,  how 
far  Great  Britain  may,  by  every  means  in  her  power,  destroy,  or 
render  useless  a  connection  contrived  for  her  ruin,  and  for  the 
aggrandizement  of  France.  Under  such  circumstances,  the  laws 
of  self-preservation  must  direct  the  conduct  of  Great  Britain  ;  and, 
if  the  British  colonies  shall  become  an  accession  to  France,  will 
direct  her  to  render  that  accession  of  as  little  avail  as  possible  to 
her  enemy." 

Congress,  upon  being  informed  of  the  design  of  the  commis 
sioners  to  circulate  these  papers,  declared  that  the  agents  employed 
to  distribute  the  manifestoes  and  proclamation  of  the  commissioners 
were  not  entitled  to  protection  from  a  flag.  They  also  recom 
mended  to  the  several  states,  to  secure  and  keep  them  in  close 
custody :  but  that  they  might  not  appear  to  hoodwink  their  con 
stituents,  they  ordered  the  manifestoes  and  proclamation  to  be 
printed  in  the  newspapers. 

The  proposals  of  the  commissioners  were  not  more  favourably 
received  by  the  people  than  they  had  been  by  Congress.  In  some 
places  the  flags  containing  them  were  not  received,  but  ordered 
instantly  to  depart ;  in  others,  they  were  received  and  forwrarded 
to  Congress,  as  the  only  proper  tribunal  to  take  cognisance  of 
them.  In  no  one  place,  not  immediately  commanded  by  the  Bri 
tish  army,  was  there  any  attempt  to  accept,  or  even  to  deliberate 
on  the  propriety  of  closing  with  the  offers  of  Britain. 

To  deter  the  British  from  executing  their  threats  of  laying  waste 
the  country,  Congress,  on  the  30th  of  October,  published  to  the 
world,  a  resolution  and  manifestoes,  in  which  they  concluded  with 
these  words  : 

"We,  therefore,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
do  solemnly  declare  and  proclaim,  that  if  our  enemies  presume 
to  execute  their  threats,  or  persist  in  their  present  career  of  barba 
rity,  we  will  take  such  exemplary  vengeance  as  shall  deter  others 
from  a  like  conduct.  We  appeal  to  that  God  who  searcheth  the 
hearts  of  men,  for  the  rectitude  of  our  intentions  ;  and  in  his  holy 


334  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

presence  we  declare,  that,  as  we  are  not  moved  by  any  light 
and  hasty  suggestions  of  anger  and  revenge,  so,  through  every 
possible  change  of  fortune,  we  will  adhere  to  this  our  determina- 
tion." 

This  was  the  last  effort  of  Great  Britain, *in  the  way  of  negotia 
tion,  to  regain  her  colonies.  It  originated  in  folly  and  ignorance 
of  the  real  state  of  affairs  in  America.  She  had  begun  with  wrong 
measures,  and  had  now  got  into  wrong  time.  Her  concessions, 
on  this  occasion,  were  an  implied  justification  of  the  resistance  of 
the  colonists.  By  offering  to  concede  all  that  they  at  first  asked 
for,  she  virtually  acknowledged  herself  to  have  been  the  aggressor 
in  an  unjust  war.  Nothing  could  be  more  favourable  to  the  ce 
menting  of  the  friendship  of  the  new  allies,  than  this  unsuccessful 
negotiation.  The  states  had  an  opportunity  of  evincing  the  sin 
cerity  of  their  engagements,  and  France,  abundant  reason  to  be 
lieve,  that,  by  preventing  their  being  conquered,  her  favourite 
scheme  of  lessening  the  power  of  Great  Britain  would  be  secured 
beyond  the  reach  of  accident.* 

The  opening  of  the  campaign  of  1778  was  marked  by  several 
expeditions  undertaken  by  the  British.  Colonel  Mawhood  made 
an  incursion  into  Jersey,  at  the  head  of  twelve  hundred  men. 
Governor  Livingston  was  immediately  requested  to  call  out  the 
militia,  in  order  to  join  ColoneyShreeve,  whose  regiment  was  de 
tached  for  the  protection  of  that  state.  This  was  found  impracti 
cable  for  want  of  funds  ;  and  Mawhood  was  unchecked  in  his 
course  of  devastation.  He  returned  to  head-quarters  at  Philadel 
phia,  after  his  incursion  had  lasted  six  or  seven  days. 

Soon  after,  an  expedition  was  undertaken  against  General  Lacy, 
who,  with  a  small  body  of  Pennsylvania  militia,  watched  the  roads 
on  the  north  side  of  the  Schuylkill.  Colonel  Abercrombie,  who 
commanded  this  expedition,  avoided  all  Lacy's  posts  of  security, 
and  threw  a  detachment  into  his  rear  before  he  discovered  the 
presence  of  an  enemy.  After  a  short  resistance,  Lacy  escaped  with 
the  loss  of  a  few  men  and  all  his  baggage.  His  corps  was 
entirely  dispersed,  and  he  was  soon  after  replaced  by  General 
Potter. 

To  cover  the  country  more  effectually  on  the  north  of  the 
Schuylkill,  to  form  an  advance  guard  for  the  security  of  the  'main 
army,  and  to  be  in  readiness  to  annoy  the  rear  of  the  enemy, 
should  he  evacuate  Philadelphia,  an  event  believed  to  be  in  con 
templation,  General  Washington  (May  18th)  detached  the  Marquis 

*  Ramsay. 


COMMENCEMENT    OF    HOSTILITIES.  335 

de  Lafayette,  with  more  than  two  thousand  choice  troops,  to  take 
post  near  the  lines.*  As  this  corps  formed  a  very  valuable  part 
of  the  army,  the  commander-in-chief  recommended,  in  his  in 
structions  to  General  Lafayette,  the  utmost  attention  to  its  safety  ; 
and,  particularly,  to  avoid  any  permanent  station,  as  a  long  con 
tinuance  in  one  position  would  facilitate  the  execution  of  measures 
which  might  be  concerted  against  him. 

The  marquis  crossed  the  Schuylkill,  and  took  post  near  Barren 
Hill  church,  eight  or  ten  miles  in  front  of  the  army.  Immediate 
notice  of  his  arrival  was  given  to  Sir  William  Howe,  who  recon 
noitred  his  position,  and  formed  a  plan  to  surprise  or  cut  him  off. 

On  the  night  of  the  19th  of  May,  General  Grant,  with  five  thou 
sand  select  troops,  took  the  road  which  leads  up  the  Delaware,  and 
consequently  diverges  from  Barren  Hill.  After  marching  some  dis 
tance,  he  inclined  to  the  left,  and  passing  White  Marsh,  where 
several  roads  unite,  took  one  leading  to  Plymouth  meeting-house, 
the  position  he  was  directed  to  occupy,  something  more  than  a 
mile  in  the  rear  of  the  marquis,  between  him  and  Valley  Forge. 
He  reached  his  point  of  destination  rather  before  sunrise.  Here 
the  roads  fork ;  the  one  leading  to  the  camp  of  Lafayette,  and  the 
other  to  Matson's  ford  over  the  Schuylkill. 

In  the  course  of  the  night,  General  Gray,  with  a  strong  detach 
ment,  had  advanced  up  the  Schuylkill  on  its  south  side,  along  the 
Ridge  Road,  and  taken  a  post  at  a  ford  two  or  three  miles  in  front 
of  the  right  flank  of  Lafayette,  while  the  residue  of  the  army  en 
camped  on  Chesnut  Hill. 

Captain  McClane,  a  vigilant  partisan  of  great  merit,  was  posted 
on  the  lines  some  distance  in  front  of  Barren  Hill.  In  the  course 
of  the  night,  he  fell  in  with  two  British  grenadiers  at  Three  Mile 
Run,  who  informed  him  of  the  movement  made  by  Grant,  and  also 
that  a  large  body  of  Germans  was  getting  ready  to  march  up  the 
Schuylkill.  Immediately  conjecturing  the  object,  McClane  de 
tached  Captain  Parr,  with  a  company  of  riflemen  across  the  country 
to  Wanderer's  hill,  with  orders  to  harass  and  retard  the  column 
advancing  up  the  Schuylkill,  and  hastened  in  person  to  the  camp 
of  Lafayette.  He  arrived  soon  after  daybreak,  and  communicated 
the  intelligence  he  had  received.  It  was  not  long  afterwards  con 
firmed  by  the  fire  of  Parr  on  the  Ridge  Road,  and  by  an  inhabitant 
who  had  escaped  from  White  Marsh  as  the  British  column  passed 
that  place. 

Thus  surrounded  with  danger,  Lafayette  instantly  put  his  troops 

*  Marshall. 


336  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

in  motion,  and  passed  the  Schuylkill  at  Matson's  ford,  which  was 
rather  nearer  to  Grant  than  himself,  with  the  loss  of  only  nine 
men. 

General  Grant  followed  his  rear,  and  appeared  at  the  ford,  just 
after  the  Americans  had  crossed  it.  Finding  them  advantageously 
posted,  he  did  not  choose  to  attack  them ;  and  the  whole  army  re 
turned  to  Philadelphia. 

This  was  the  last  enterprise  attempted  by  Sir  William  Howe. 
He  resigned  the  command  of  the  army  to  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  and 
embarked  for  Great  Britain.* 

For  the  following  graphic  detail  of  the  events  which  immediately 
followed,  we  are  indebted  to  an  able  contemporary.! 

"After  the  conclusion  of  the  alliance  between  France  and  the 
United  States,  the  vast  fleet  collected  by  the  former,  and  the  active 
part  she  proposed  to  take  in  the  war,  made  it  no  longer  safe  for  the 
British  to  remain  in  a  port  so  easily  blockaded  as  Philadelphia. 
Accordingly,  orders  were  sent  out  by  the  ministry  to  evacuate  the 
place.  As  soon  as  Washington  learned  this,  and  became  satisfied 
that  Sir  Henry  Clinton  intended  to  reach  New  York  by  a  march 
through  the  Jerseys,  he  consulted  his  general  officers  whether  it 
would  be  advisable  to  attack  the  enemy  during  his  retreat.  With 
but  two  exceptions  they  opposed  the  measure.  It  was  determined, 
however,  to  follow  on  the  track  of  the  foe,  and  seize  every  favour 
able  opportunity  for  annoying  him. 

«  The  British  general's  first  intention  was  to  reach  New  York  by 
the  way  of  Brunswick,  but  after  ascending  the  Delaware  as  far  as 
Bordentown,  he  learned  that  Washington  had  already  occupied  the 
high  grounds  which  commanded  that  route.  He  was  accordingly 
forced  to  abandon  his  original  design,  and,  turning  off  toward  Cros- 
wick,  he  proceeded  through  Allentown  to  Monmouth  court-house, 
intending  to  reach  South  Amboy  in  this  more  circuitous  way.  At 
Monmouth  court-house  he  rested  for  several  days,  having  chosen  a 
wooded  hill,  surrounded  by  swamps,  and  almost  inaccessible,  for 
his  encampment. 

"During  this  retreat  Washington  had  moved  along  the  more 
elevated  ground  to  the  northward,  in  nearly  a  parallel  line  to  his 
enemy,  thus  retaining  the  power  to  give  or  withhold  battle.  No 
means  of  annoying  Sir  Henry,  meantime,  were  neglected.  A  strong 
corps  hung  on  his  left  flank,  a  regiment  followed  on  his  rear,  and 
Colonel  Morgan  watched  his  right.  Washington  appears  to  have 
secretly  wished  for  a  battle  during  the  whole  march,  and  as  the 

*  Marshall.  -j-  C.  J.  Peterson,  in  Graham's  Magazine. 


BATTLE    OF    MONMOUTH.  337 

British  approached  the  end  of  their  journey  he  gradually  drew  his 
forces  around  them.  He  now  again  called  a  council  of  his  officers, 
and  proposed  that  battle  should  be  given.  But  the  measure  was 
negatived  a  second  time.  It  was,  however,  agreed  that  the  corps 
on  the  left  flank  of  the  enemy  should  be  strengthened,  and  that  the 
main  body  of  the  army  should  move  in  close  vicinity  to  it,  so  as  to 
be  at  hand  to  support  it  in  case  of  an  emergency.  Among  those 
who  opposed  a  battle  were  Generals  Lee  and  Du  Portail,  and  the 
venerable  Baron  Steuben.  These  officers  considered  the  discipline 
of  the  Americans  so  inferior  to  that  of  the-British,  as  to  render  de 
feat  inevitable,  in  case  the  two  armies  should  engage  on  equal 
terms ;  and  the  influence  of  their  opinions  brought  over  most  of 
the  junior  officers  to  that  side.  Wayne,  Cadwalader,  Lafayette  and 
Greene  appear  to  have  been  the  only  ones  who  differed  from  the 
council ;  and  the  two  first  alone  were  openly  in  favour  of  a  battle. 
When  the  council  decided  so  much  against  his  wishes,  Washing 
ton  resolved  to  act  on  his  own  responsibility.  The  British  were 
already  approaching  Monmouth ;  twelve  miles  further  on  were  the 
heights  of  Middletown ;  and  if  the  enemy  reached  these  latter,  all 
hope  of  bringing  him  to  an  action,  unless  with  his  own  consent, 
would  be  gone.  The  blow,  if  struck  at  all,  must  be  given  at 
once. 

«  To  bring  on  a  battle,  Washington  resolved  to  strengthen  still 
further  the  force  on  the  enemy's  left  flank,  now  the  advanced  corps : 
and  accordingly  he  detached  Wayne  to  join  it  with  a  thousand  men. 
This  command,  about  four  thousand  strong,  was  thought  of  suffi 
cient  importance  to  be  intrusted  to  one  of  the  major-generals  ;  and 
the  post,  of  right,  belonged  to  Lee.  But  having  advised  against 
the  battle,  and  believing  nothing  serious  was  intended,  he  allowed 
Lafayette  to  take  his  place.  Scarcely  had  he  yielded,  however, 
before  he  learned  the  importance  of  the  post,  and  solicited  Wash 
ington  to  restore  it  to  him ;  <  otherwise,'  to  use  his  own  phrase, 
<  both  he  and  Lord  Stirling  (the  seniors  of  Lafayette)  would  be  dis 
graced.'  To  spare  his  feelings,  Washington  suggested  a  com 
promise.  He  sent  Lee  to  join  the  marquis,  with  two  additional 
brigades ;  but,  in  order  that  the  feelings  of  Lafayette  might  not  be 
wounded,  he  stipulated  that  if  any  scheme  of  attack  had  been 
formed  for  the  day,  Lee  should  not  interfere  with  it.  The  intelli 
gence  of  this  change,  and  of  the  stipulation  he  had  made,  WTash- 
ington  communicated  to  Lafayette  in  a  confidential  letter,  which 
shows  the  almost  fatherly  kindness  the  American  chief  entertained 
for  the  young  marquis.  No  plan  of  attack,  however,  had  been 
43  2F 


338  LIFE    OF   WASHINGTON. 

formed,  and  by  the  night  of  the  27th  Lee  was  in  full  command  of 
the  advanced  corps. 

"  His  army  lay  at  Englishtown,  not  five  miles  distant  from  Mon- 
mouth,  where  the  British  were  encamped.  Washington,  with  the 
rear  division,  was  but  three  miles  behind  ;  anfl  almost  his  last  duty, 
before  he  retired,  was  to  send  word  for  Lee  to  attack  the  enemy  as 
soon  as  he  should  have  begun  the  march.  This  was  known  at  the 
outer  posts,  and  during  that  short  summer  night,  the  sentry,  as  he 
walked  his  round,  speculated  on  the  fortunes  of  the  coming  day. 

"  The  morning  had  scarcely  dawned  before  the  British  army 
began  their  march,  Knyphausen,  with  the  baggage,  going  first, 
while  the  flower  of  the  army  under  Cornwallis,  forming  the  rear 
division,  followed  some  distance  behind.  On  the  first  intelligence 
of  the  movement,  Washington  again  sent  orders  for  Lee  to  attack 
the  enemy's  rear,  <  unless  there  should  be  powerful  reasons  to  the 
contrary.'  He  accordingly  put  his  troops  in  motion,  and  directly 
after  eight  o'clock  the  glitter  of  his  muskets  flashed  along  the 
heights  of  Freehold,  where  Cornwallis,  less  than  an  hour  before, 
had  arrayed  his  men.  As  the  Americans  reached  the  brow  of  the 
hill  they  beheld  the  splendid  grenadiers  of  the  enemy  moving,  in 
compact  masses,  along  the  valley  below  ;  while  far  in  the  distance, 
toiling  through  the  sandy  plain,  was  visible  the  long  line  of  bag 
gage-wagons.  A  rapid  glance  decided  Lee  what  to  do.  Pushing 
Wayne  forward,  to  press  on  the  covering  party  of  the  British  rear, 
and  thus  engross  their  attention,  he  began  a  rapid  march,  by  a 
by-road,  to  gain  the  front  of  this  party,  and  so  cut  it  off  from  the 
enemy.  But  he  had  advanced  only  a  short  distance  when  he  learned 
that  this  detachment  was  in  greater  force  than  he  had  thought ;  and 
galloping  forward  in  person  to  reconnoitre,  he  saw  the  whole  rear 
division  of  the  foe  coming  up  to  oppose  him,  their  dense  and  glit 
tering  columns  darkening  the  plain. 

"  As  Lee's  opinion  had  been,  on  the  general  question,  against  a 
battle,  so  now,  in  this  peculiar  position,  his  judgment  appears  to 
have  been  opposed  to  the  measure.  He  had  a  morass  in  his  rear, 
and  a  disciplined  enemy  in  front,  while  aid  was  as  yet  distant.  He 
appears  to  have  wanted  confidence  in  his  men  ;  to  have  regarded 
victory  as  impossible  ;  yet  he  took  his  measures  to  prepare  for 
battle.  Before,  however,  a  shot  had  been  fired,  General  Scott,  who 
commanded  a  portion  of  the  detachment,  mistook  an  oblique  move 
ment  of  one  of  the  American  columns  for  a  retreat,  and,  without 
waiting  for  orders,  recrossed  the  morass  in  his  rear.  Lee  did  not 
recall  him,  but  giving  up  the  contest  as  hopeless  on  his  present 


BATTLE   OF    MONMOUTH.  339 

ground,  followed  Scott  across  the  ravine,  and  so  began  that  dis 
astrous  retreat  which  had  wellnigh  proved  fatal  to  our  army,  and 
which  led  subsequently  to  his  own  disgrace. 

"  On  the  propriety  of  this  movement  there  has  been  some  differ 
ence  of  opinion.  But  an  examination  of  all  the  authorities  leaves 
the  impression  on  our  mind,  that  Lee,  though  a  brave  man,  wanted, 
in  his  then  circumstances,  that  reliance  on  himself  without  which 
success  is  impossible,  even  in  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life.  He  at 
first  resolved  to  stand  his  ground,  but  afterward  suffered  himself 
to  be  decided  against  it,  by  the  comparatively  trifling  circumstance 
of  Scott's  retreat.  This  was  certainly  weak.  Had  he  possessed 
the  heroic  determination  which  Washington  evinced  later  in  the 
day,  he  would  have  met  the  enemy  with  a  firm  front,  and  recalling 
Scott,  endeavoured  to  keep  his  position,  at  every  hazard,  until  the 
rear  division,  which  he  knew  was  advancing,  could  come  up. 

"  His  retreat  to  the  heights  was  not  effected  without  some  skir 
mishing.  Flushed  with  what  they  thought  an  easy  victory,  the 
British  thundered  hotly  in  pursuit,  and  Lee,  still  unable  to  find 
ground  to  suit  him,  continued  retreating.  Already  he  had  left  the 
heights  of  Freehold  behind  him  in  his  flight,  and,  with  the  enemy 
close  upon  his  rear,  was  approaching  Englishtown,  where  he  had 
lain  the  night  before. 

"  Meanwhile  the  troops  of  our  rear  division,  hearing  the  can 
nonade  ahead,  had  cast  aside  their  knapsacks  and  other  impedi 
ments,  and  were  hurrying  to  reinforce  their  brave  companions  in 
arms.  What  was  the  surprise  and  indignation  of  their  leader  to 
meet  the  retreating  troops !  Washington  first  came  up  with  the 
van,  and  to  his  astonished  inquiry  received  for  answer  that  a  retreat 
had  been  ordered  without  striking  a  blow.  Mortified  and  alarmed, 
he  galloped  forward  until  he  met  Lee,  whom  he  addressed  with  a 
warmth  of  manner  unusual  to  him,  and  in  terms  of  strong  disap 
probation.  The  crisis  wras  indeed  calculated  to  disturb  even  the 
equanimity  of  Washington.  Of  Lee's  intention  to  stand  his  ground 
on  the  first  favourable  opportunity,  he  was  ignorant.  That  general 
had  been  guilty  of  gross  neglect  in  not  sending  word  to  his  chief 
of  the  retrograde  movement.  Washington,  in  consequence,  saw 
only  what  appeared  an  unnecessary  and  disgraceful  flight,  hazard 
ing  the  safety,  probably  the  very  existence,  of  his  army.  But  in 
this  emergency  he  retained  his  self-composure.  Never  wras  he 
greater  than  now.  His  fine  person  appeared  to  grow  more  com 
manding  ;  his  countenance,  usually  so  calm,  became  animated  with 
heroic  resolution  ;  and  forming  the  regiments  of  Stewart  and  Ram- 


340  LIFE    OF   WASHINGTON. 

say,  he  brought  them  up  to  check  the  pursuit,  while,  at  the  same 
time,  he  ordered  Lee,  with  the  remainder  of  his  corps,  to  hold  the 
ground  until  the  rear  division  could  be  brought  into  action.  The 
sight  of  their  beloved  general,  and  the  confidence  that  fired  his 
aspect,  inspired  the  drooping  spirits,  of  the  troops,  and  they  met  the 
enemy  with  enthusiasm.  For  a  time  the  pursuit  was  checked. 
But  Clinton's  splendid  legions,  flushed  with  their  success,  poured 
on  datmtlessly  to  the  charge  ;  and  the  advanced  corps  was  at  length 
driven  back  on  the  reserves,  though  not  until  it  had  stood  its  ground 
the  required  time.  The  fresh  troops  of  the  rear  division  were  now 
drawn  up,  under  the  eye  of  the  general,  on  an  eminence,  covered 
by  a  morass  in  front.  With  desperate  courage  a  division  of  the 
British,  disregarding  their  strong  position,  pressed  on  to  the  charge  ; 
but  Lord  Stirling  galloped  up  with  the  artillery  to  the  edge  of  the 
acclivity,  unlimbered  the  guns  and  opened  a  galling  fire,  that  soon 
drove  them  back.  An  attempt  was  now  made  to  turn  the  left  flank 
of  our  army  ;  but  this  failed.  Almost  simultaneously  a  movement 
was  seen  among  the  enemy's  masses,  and  directly  a  strong  body 
appeared  as  if  about  to  be  thrown  against  our  right.  General  Greene 
no  sooner  saw  the  movement  than  he  hurried  forward  Knox  to  a 
high  ground  in  front,  whose  heavy  guns  soon  began  to  shake  the 
plain,  and  make  dreadful  havoc  not  only  among  the  advancing 
columns,  but  in  the  force  opposed  to  the  left  wing,  which  they 
enfiladed.  The  enemy  was  just  beginning  to  waver,  when  Wayne 
came  dashing  up  with  his  veterans,  and  assailed  him  impetuously 
in  front.  Even  the  grenadiers  of  Cornwallis  quailed  before  this 
terrible  slaughter  ;  and  abandoning  their  ground,  fell  back  behind 
the  ravine,  to  the  spot  they  had  occupied  when  they  received  their 
first  check,  immediately  after  Washington  met  Lee. 

"  When  the  British  were  thus  driven  back,  they  seized  an  almost 
impregnable  position,  their  flanks  being  secured  by  thick  woods 
and  morasses,  and  their  front  accessible  only  through  a  narrow 
pass.  The  day  was  now  declining,  and  the  excessive  heat  had 
destroyed  numbers  of  the  men,  yet  Washington  determined  on 
forcing  the  enemy  from  his  position.  Two  brigades  were  accord 
ingly  detached  to  gain  the  right  flank  of  the  British,  and  Woodford 
with  his  gallant  brigade  was  ordered  to  turn  their  left.  Knox, 
with  his  artillery,  was  called  to  the  front.  With  the  opening  of  his 
terrible  batteries  the  battle  once  more  began.  The  British  cannon 
replied,  and  soon  the  earth  shook  with  the  repeated  reverberations 
of  heavy  artillery. 

"No  further  decisive  event,  however,  occurred.    Night  fell  before 


BATTLE      OF      MONMOTirH. 


OF 


BATTLE   OF   MONMOUTH.  343 

the  brigades  on  either  flank  could  conquer  the  obstacles  in  the  way 
of  gaining  their  positions,  and,  completely  worn  out,  both  com 
batants  were  glad  of  the  reprieve  afforded  by  darkness,  and  sank 
to  rest  on  the  ground  they  occupied.  The  troops  of  Washington 
slept  on  their  arms,  their  leader  slumbering,  wrapt  in  his  cloak,  in 
the  midst  of  his  soldiers. 

« It  was  the  intention  of  the  American  general  to  renew  the  battle 
on  the  following  day,  but  toward  midnight  the  British  secretly 
abandoned  their  position,  and  resumed  their  march.  So  fatigued 
were  our  men  by  the  excessive  heat,  combined  with  the  exertions 
of  the  day,  that  the  flight  of  the  enemy  was  not  discovered  until 
morning,  when  the  ground  he  had  occupied  at  nightfall  was  found 
deserted.  Washington  made  no  attempt  at  pursuit,  satisfied  that 
Sir  Henry  Clinton  would  reach  the  heights  of  Middletown  before 
he  could  be  overtaken.  Accordingly,  leaving  a  detachment  to 
watch  the  British  rear,  the  main  body  of  the  army  was  moved,  by 
easy  marches,  to  the  Hudson.  In  this  battle  the  enemy  lost  nearly 
three  hundred  men  ;  the  Americans  did  not  suffer  a  third  as  much. 
Never,  unless  at  Princeton,  did  Washington  evince  such  heroism. 
His  presence  of  mind  alone  probably  saved  the  day.  He  checked 
the  retreat,  drove  back  the  enemy,  and  remained  master  of  the 
field ;  and  this,  too,  with  a  loss  very  trifling  when  compared  with 
that  of  the  foe. 

"  The  battle  of  Monmouth,  \von  in  this  manner,  when  all  the 
senior  officers  had  declared  a  victory  impossible,  left  a  profound 
impression  on  the  public  mind  of  America  and  Europe.  The  dis 
cipline  of  our  troops  was  no  longer  despised.  Soldiers  who,  under 
such  disastrous  circumstances,  could  be  brought  to  face  and  drive 
back  a  successful  foe,  were  declared  to  be  a  match  for  the  veteran 
troops  of  Europe ;  and  their  general,  who  had  been  called  the 
Fabius,  was  now  honoured  with  the  new  title  of  the  Marcellus 
of  modern  history. 

"We  cannot  dismiss  this  battle  without  referring  to  the  subse 
quent  disgrace  of  Lee.  Though  Washington  had  addressed  him 
warmly  in  the  first  surprise  of  their  meeting,  it  is  probable  that  no 
public  notice  would  have  been  taken  of  Lee's  hasty  retreat,  but  for 
the  conduct  of  that  general  himself.  Of  a  haughty,  perhaps  of  an 
overbearing  disposition,  he  could  not  brook  the  indignity  which  he 
considered  had  been  put  upon  him  ;  and  almost  his  first  act  was  to 
write  an  improper  letter  to  Washington,  demanding  reparation  for 
the  wrords  used  towards  him  on  the  battle-field.  The  reply  of  the 
commander-in-chief  was  dignified,  but  severe.  He  assured  his 


344  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

subordinate  he  should  have  a  speedy  opportunity  to  justify  himself, 
and  on  Lee's  asking  for  a  court-martial,  he  was  arrested.  The 
verdict  of  that  body  was, 

"  First.  That  he  was  guilty  of  disobedience  of  orders  in  not  at 
tacking  the  enemy  on  the  28th  of  June,*  agreeably  to  repeated 
instructions.  Second.  That  he  was  guilty  of  misbehaviour  before 
the  enemy  on  the  same  day,  in  making  an  unnecessary,  and,  in 
some  few  instances,  a  disorderly  retreat.  Third.  That  he  was 
guilty  of  disrespect  to  the  commander-in-chief  in  two  letters.  His 
sentence  was,  to  be  suspended  from  his  rank  for  one  year. 

«  We  shall  not  go  into  a  minute  examination  of  the  question 
whether  this  punishment  was  deserved.  Our  own  opinion  is  that 
it  was.  We  do  not  think  Lee  guilty  in  the  retreat  of  any  thing  but 
an  error  in  judgment,  arising  perhaps  from  want  of  confidence  in 
his  men.  But  he  should  have  kept  the  commander-in-chief  advised 
of  his  movements.  It  is  probable  that  Lee  considered  himself  a 
superior  officer  to  Washington,  for  he  was  overbearing,  proud, 
sullen,  and  dogmatical  throughout,  the  whole  proceedings,  both 
before  and  after  the  battle.  This  point  of  his  character  was  well 
understood  by  the  army,  with  whom  he  was  unpopular,  and  who 
hailed  his  disgrace  with  secret  satisfaction. 

"  The  sentence  proved  the  ruin  of  Lee.  He  passed,  from  that 
hour,  out  of  men's  minds.  From  having  held  the  second  rank  in 
the  army  he  sank  to  comparative  obscurity.  He  never  again  figured 
in  the  war.  In  1780,  Congress  intimated  to  him  that  they  had  no 
further  need  of  his  services  ;  and  two  years  later  he  died,  in  seclu 
sion,  at  Philadelphia. 

«  The  killed  and  wounded  in  the  battle  were  not  the  only  loss 
the  British  sustained.  During  their  march  through  the  Jerseys, 
about  one  thousand  of  their  soldiers  deserted  them." 

In  the  mean  time,  France  had  been  preparing  to  assist  the  Ame 
ricans.  On  the  14th  of  April,  Count  d'Estaing  had  sailed  from 
Toulon  with  a  strong  squadron,  and  arrived  on  the  coast  of  Vir 
ginia  in  the  beginning  of  July,  while  the  British  fleet  was  em 
ployed  in  conveying  the  forces  from  Sandy  Hook  to  New  York. 
It  consisted  of  twelve  ships  of  the  line,  and  four  frigates,  and 
brought  M.  Gerard,  the  first  minister  from  France  to  the  United 
States. 

On  being  apprised  of  Count  d'Estaing's  arrival,  General  Wash 
ington  sent  him,  by  Colonel  Laurens,  a  letter  of  congratulation, 
and  proposals  for  co-operating  in  their  attempts  upon  the  common 
enemy.  Their  design  of  attacking  the  British  in  New  York  simul- 


ATTEMPT    ON    RHODE    ISLAND.  345 

taneously,  by  land  and  water,  was  rendered  abortive,  by  the  pilots 
refusing  to  take  the  responsibility  of  conducting  the  heavy  ships 
of  the  French  fleet  over  the  bar.  D'Estaing,  therefore,  remained 
at  anchor,  four  miles  off  Sandy  Hook,  till  the  22d  of  July,  without 
effecting  any  thing  more  than  the  capture  of  some  vessels,  which, 
through  ignorance  of  his  arrival,  fell  into  his  hands.  The  next 
attempt  of  the  French  admiral  was  in  conjunction  with  the  Ameri 
cans,  on  Rhode  Island,  where  the  British  had  a  force  of  six  thou 
sand  rnen.  General  Washington  anticipating  the  design  of  D'Es 
taing,  Generals  Greene  and  Lafayette  were  detached  with  two 
brigades  from  the  main  army,  to  co-operate  with  Count  d'Estaing 
and  General  Sullivan,  who  was  at  Providence  with  a  considerable 
force  of  New  England  troops.  It  wTas  proposed  that  D'Estaing, 
with  his  troops,  should  make  a  descent  on  the  south  part  of  the 
island,  and  a  body  of  Americans  should  take  possession  of  the 
north,  while  the  French  squadron  was  to  enter  the  harbour  of  New 
port,  and  take  or  destroy  the  British  shipping.  On  the  8th  of  Au 
gust,  the  count  entered  the  harbour,  but  found  himself  unable  to 
do  any  material  damage.  Lord  Howe  instantly  set  sail  for  Rhode 
Island,  and  D'Estaing,  confiding  in  his  superiority,  immediately 
came  out  of  the  harbour  to  attack  him.  A  violent  storm  parted  the 
two  fleets,  and  did  so  much  damage  that  they  were  rendered 
totally  unfit  for  action.  The  French,  however,  suffered  most ;  and 
several  of  their  ships  being  afterwards  attacked  singly,  by  the  Bri 
tish,  narrowly  escaped  being  taken.  On  the  20th  of  August,  he 
returned  to  Newport,  in  a  very  shattered  condition,  and  sailed,  two 
days  after,  for  Boston.  General  Sullivan  had  landed,  in  the  mean 
time,  on  the  northern  part  of  Rhode  Island,  with  ten  thousand 
men.  On  the  17th  of  August  they  began  their  operations,  by  erect 
ing  batteries,  and  making  their  approaches  to  the  British  lines. 
But  General  Pigot  had  taken  such  effectual  care  to  secure  himself 
on  the  land-side,  that  without  the  assistance  of  a  marine  force  it 
was  impossible  to  attack  him  with  any  probability  of  success. 
The  conduct  of  D'Estaing,  therefore,  who  had  abandoned  them 
when  master  of  the  harbour,  gave  the  greatest  disgust  to  the  peo 
ple  of  New  England,  and  Sullivan  began  to  think  of  a  retreat ;  but 
the  garrison  sallied  out  on  him  with  such  violence  that  it  was  not 
without  difficulty  that  he  effected  it.  He  had  not  been  long  gone, 
when  Sir  Henry  Clinton  arrived  with  a  body  of  four  thousand  men  ; 
which,  had  it  arrived  sooner,  would  have  enabled  the  British  com 
mander  to  have  gained  a  decisive  advantage  over  him. 

The  success  of  this  expedition  had  been  confidently  anticipated, 
44 


346  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

and  its  failure  caused  great  chagrin  and  vexation,  which  exhibited 
itself  in  the  New  England  states  and  Boston  particularly  ;  this 
chagrin  -excited  the  fears  of  Washington,  and  he  accordingly 
addressed  letters  to  Generals  Sullivan  and  Heath,  the  commandants 
at  Boston,  urging  them  to  use  their  influence  to  restrain  the  intem 
perance  of  the  moment.  A  letter  from  the  Count  d'Estaing,  ex 
plaining  the  causes  of  the  failure  of  the  expedition,  was  received 
with  such  marks  of  esteem  that  it  appears  to  have  quieted  all  serious 
mischief.  Congress  also  passed  a  resolution  expressing  their  appro 
bation  of  the  conduct  of  the  count.  Lord  Howe,  in  the  mean  time, 
had  resigned  his  command  to  Admiral  Gambier,  and  General 
Clinton  had  returned  to  New  York,  leaving  his  troops  under  the 
command  of  General  Grey,  with  orders  to  conduct  an  expedition 
eastward,  as  far  as  Buzzard's  Bay.  Grey  destroyed  a  number  of 
vessels  in  Acushnet  River,  and  having  reduced  Bedford  and  Fair- 
haven,  re-embarked  his  troops  and  sailed  to  Martha's  Vineyard. 
He  soon  after  returned  to  New  York,  and  the  British  army  moved 
up  the  Hudson  in  great  force,  and  encamped  on  both  sides  of  the 
river ;  their  ships  of  war  maintaining  the  communication  between 
their  columns. 

Colonel  Baylor,  with  his  cavalry,  crossed  the  Hackensack  early 
on  the  27th  of  September,  and  took  quarters  at  Herringtown,  a 
small  village  near  New  Taupan,  where  some  militia  were  posted. 
Lord  Cornwallis,  on  hearing  of  this  movement,  formed  a  plan  to 
cut  off  both  the  cavalry  and  the  militia  posted  in  the  town.  This 
was  effected  by  a  party  under  General  Grey  and  Colonel  Campbell. 
The  militia  saved  themselves  by  flight,  but  the  British  completely 
surprised  the  cavalry,  and  cut  them  to  pieces. 

This  act  was  in  some  measure  retaliated  by  Colonel  Richard 
Butler,  with  a  detachment  of  infantry,  assisted  by  Major  Lee,  with 
a  part  of  his  cavalry,  who,  falling  in  with  a  party  of  chasseurs  and 
yagers  commanded  by  Count  Donop,  charged  and  defeated  them, 
killing  ten  men,  and  capturing  one  officer  and  eighteen  privates. 

After  completing  their  forage,  the  British  army  returned  to  New 
York.  Their  movement  had  been  designed  to  cover  an  expedition 
against  Little  Egg  Harbour,  where  they  succeeded  in  destroying 
works,  store-houses,  vessels,  and  merchandise  to  a  large  amount. 
Count  Pulaski,  who  with  his  legion  had  been  charged  with  the 
defence,  was  completely  surprised,  through  the  treachery  of  a  de 
serter,  and  a  considerable  portion  of  his  men  were  put  to  the  bayonet 
with  circumstances  of  barbarity  very  unusual  in  civilized  warfare. 

Admiral  Byron  arrived  in  New  York  and  took  command  of  the 


HALF-PAY  FOR   LIFE  TO  THE  OFFICERS.       347 

British  fleet  in  September.  He  afterward  sailed  in  October  for 
Boston,  but  encountering  a  severe  storm,  he  took  shelter  in  Rhode 
Island.  Count  d'Estaing  seized  this  favourable  moment  and  sailed, 
on  the  3d  of  November,  for  the  West  Indies. 

Lafayette,  anticipating  a  war  in  Europe,  was  now  desirous  to 
return  home ;  and  General  Washington,  actuated  not  less  by  per 
sonal  respect  for  this  distinguished  officer  than  by  a  regard  for  the 
public  service,  obtained  from  Congress  an  unlimited  leave*  of  ab 
sence  for  his  friend.  "The  partiality  of  America  for  Lafayette 
was  well  placed.  Never  did  a  foreigner,  whose  primary  attach 
ments  to  his  own  country  remained  undiminished,  feel  more  solici 
tude  for  the  welfare  of  another  than  was  unceasingly  manifested  oy 
this  young  nobleman  for  the  United  States."* 

A  detachment  of  the  British  army,  of  five  thousand  men,  com 
manded  by  General  Grant,  sailed,  early  in  November,  for  the  West 
Indies  ;  and  during  the  same  month,  a  second  detachment,  com 
manded  by  Lieutenant-colonel  Campbell,  escorted  by  Sir  Hyde 
Parker,  was  destined  for  the  Southern  States. 

As  Washington  perceived  that  a  force  sufficient  for  the  defence 
of  New  York  still  remained,  the  American  army  was  ordered  to 
retire  into  winter  quarters.  The  main  army  was  cantoned  in  Con 
necticut,  on  both  sides  of  the  North  River,  about  West  Point,  and 
at  Middlebrook.  Light  troops  were  stationed  near  the  lines  ;  and 
the  cavalry  wrere  widely  distributed,  at  Winchester  in  Virginia,  at 
Frederick,  Maryland,  at  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  and  at  Durham, 
Connecticut.  This  was  done  with  a  view  to  facility  in  procuring 
forage.  In  the  whole  distribution  of  the  army,  the  protection  of 
the  country,  the  security  of  important  points,  and  a  cheap  and  con 
venient  supply  of  provisions,  were  consulted. 

The  soldiers  were  again  under  the  necessity  of  wintering  in  huts, 
to  which  they  had  in  some  measure  become  accustomed.  They 
were  better  clothed  than  in  the  preceding  winter,  in  consequence 
of  the  supplies  received  from  France  ;  and  their  condition  on  the 
whole  was  far  more  comfortable  than  during  any  preceding  winter 
of  the  war. 

Towards  the  latter  end  of  April,  Congress  had  resolved  to  grant 
half-pay  for  life  to  the  officers  in  their  army,  reserving  to  themselves 
the  privilege  of  redeeming,  at  any  time  they  might  think  proper, 
this  annual  stipend,  by  the  payment  of  a  sum  equivalent  to  the  half- 
pay  for  six  years.  General  Washington  had  repeatedly  urged  the 
necessity  of  adopting  some  measure  of  this  sort,  that  men  might 
mid  it  to  their  interest  to  enter  into  the  service.  No  man  was  better 

*  Marshall. 


348  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

acquainted  with  human  nature  than  Washington.  He  knew  that 
« with  far  the  greatest  part  of  mankind,  interest  is  the  governing 
principle,  and  motives  of  public  virtue  were  not  of  themselves  suffi 
cient  to  keep  the  American  army  together  for  any  extended  period. 
His  letters  to  Congress  on  this  subject  are  master-strokes  of  policy, 
and  evince  a  profoundness  of  wisdom,  which  shows  how  well  he 
knew  how  to  profit  by  the  lessons  of  experience.  The  letter  which 
seems  to  have  been  the  immediate  cause  of  the  resolution  of  Con 
gress,  was  that  of  April  21,  in  which  he  thus  writes  :  "Men  may 
speculate  as  they  will ;  they  may  talk  of  patriotism  ;  they  may  draw 
a  few  examples  from  ancient  story  of  great  achievements  performed 
by  its  influence ;  but  whoever  builds  upon  it  as  a  sufficient  basis 
for  conducting  a  long  and  bloody  war,  will  find  himself  deceived 
in  the  end.  We  must  take  the  passions  of  men  as  nature  has 
given  them,  and  those  principles  as  a  guide  which  are  generally 
the  rule  of  action.  I  do  not  mean  to  exclude  altogether  the  idea 
of  patriotism.  I  know  it  exists,  and  I  know  it  has  done  much  in 
the  present  contest ;  but  I  will  venture  to  assert,  that  a  great  and 
lasting  war  can  never  be  supported  on  this  principle  alone.  It 
must  be  aided  by  a  prospect  of  interest  or  some  reward.  For  a 
time  it  may  of  itself  push  men  to  action,  to  bear  much,  to  encounter 
difficulties,  but  it  will  not  endure  unassisted  by  interest.  Without 
arrogance,  or  the  smallest  deviation  from  truth,  it  may  be  said, 
that  no  history  now  extant  can  furnish  an  instance  of  an  army's 
suffering  such  uncommon  hardships  as  ours  has  done,  and  bearing 
them  with  the  same  patience  and  fortitude.  To  see  men  without 
clothes  to  cover  their  nakedness,  without  blankets  to  lie  on,  without 
shoes,  so  that  their  inarches  might  be  traced  by  the  blood  of  their  feet, 
and  almost  as  often  without  as  with  provisions,  marching  through 
frost  and  snow,  and  at  Christmas  taking  up  their  winter  quarters 
within  a  day's  march  of  the  enemy,  without  a  house  or  hut  to  cover 
them  till  they  could  be  built,  and  submitting  to  all  without  a  murmur, 
is  a  mark  of  patience  and  obedience,  which,  in  my  opinion,  can 
scarcely  be  paralleled."  Down  to  the  date  of  this  letter,  no  cartel 
had  been  settled  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners.  A  few  instances 
of  exchange  only  had  taken  place,  among  which  were  those  of  Lee 
for  General  Prescott,  and  Major  Otho  Williams  for  Major  Ackland  ; 
but  Congress  seemed  unwilling  to  agree  to  any  terms,  until  their 
former  resolution  on  the  subject  should  be  complied  with,  throwing 
the  blame,  however,  upon  Sir  William  Howe  and  his  commissioners. 
Washington,  on  the  contrary,  thought  the  public  faith  and  his  own 
honour  pledged,  as  will  be  seen  by  his  letter  which  follows.  "  It 


EXCHANGE    OF    PRISONERS.  349 

may  be  thought,"  says  he,  "contrary  to  our  interest  to  go  into  an 
exchange,  as  the  enemy  would  derive  more  immediate  advantage 
from  it  than  we  should :  but  on  principles  of  genuine  extensive 
policy,  independent  of  the  consideration  of  compassion  and  justice, 
wre  are  under  an  obligation  not  to  elude  it.  An  event  of  this  kind 
is  the  general  wish  of  the  country.  I  know  it  to  be  the  wish  of  the 
army,  and  it  must  be  the  ardent  wish  of  the  unhappy  sufferers  them 
selves.  Should  the  exchange  be  deferred  till  the  terms  of  the  last 
resolve  of  Congress  on  the  subject  are  fulfilled,  it  will  be  difficult 
to  prevent  our  being  generally  accused  with  a  breach  of  good  faith. 
Speculative  minds  may  consider  all  our  professions  as  mere  profes 
sions,  or  at  least,  that  interest  and  policy  are  to  be  the  only  arbiters 
of  their  validity.  I  cannot  doubt  that  Congress,  in  preservation  of 
the  public  faith  and  my  personal  honour,  will  remove  all  impedi 
ments  that  now  oppose  themselves  to  my  engagements,  and  will 
authorize  me,  through  commissioners,  to  settle  as  extensive  and 
competent  a  cartel  as  may  appear  advantageous  and  necessary,  any 
resolutions  heretofore  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding."  This  letter 
produced  the  effect  of  relieving  Washington  in  some  measure  from 
his  unpleasant  embarrassment,  as  Congress  soon  after  resolved  that 
he  might  proceed  in  his  arrangements  for  an  exchange  without 
excluding  those  prisoners  whose  accounts  remained  unsettled. 
Commissioners  were  consequently  appointed  on  both  sides ;  but 
mutual  objections  arose  to  every  thing  like  a  general  proposal,  and 
the  affair  was  left  in  its  former  state. 

In  the  course  of  this  summer,  the  western  country  had  been  the 
scene  of  most  distressing  events  ;  the  feuds  between  the  independ 
ents  and  loyalists  having  raged  with  peculiar  violence  in  this  wild 
region.  The  latter  complained,  probably  not  without  reason,  that 
the  rigorous  laws  enacted  against  them  were  enforced  with  severe 
aggravations,  and  many  sought  an  asylum  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  colonies.  There  they  found  themselves  among  the  Indians,  a 
race  always  bitterly  hostile  to  the  white  borderers,  and  easily  ex 
cited  to  the  most  daring  enterprises.  Unhappily  the  passions  of  the 
refugees  were  worked  up  to  such  violence,  that  instead  of  urging  a 
milder  mode  of  warfare,  they  stimulated  these  allies  to  deeds  of 
more  than  their  wonted  barbarity.  Wyoming,  a  flourishing  settle 
ment  on  the  Pennsylvania  frontier,  was  suddenly  assailed,  the 
slender  militia  force  which  defended  it  overpowered,  and  the  inhabit 
ants  exposed  to  all  the  horrors  of  Indian  vengeance  and  massacre. 
From  the  lateness  of  the  season,  only  a  few  partial  attempts  could 
be  made  to  retaliate.  Next  spring,  however,  General  Sullivan  was 

2  G 


350 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


r 


VA.LLET     OF     WYOMING. 


despatched  with  four  thousand  men,  and  joined  by  General  Clinton 
with  another  division  from  the  Mohawk  River.  They  entered  the 
territory  of  the  Indians,  who,  quite  unable  to  resist  so  large  a  force, 
abandoned  their  homes  and  fled  before  them.  The  villages  were 
then  reduced  to  ashes,  every  trace  of  cultivation  obliterated,  and 
the  region  rendered  as  much  as  possible  uninhabitable.  This  rigour 
is  said  to  have  been  authorized  by  Washington,  and  justified  on 
the  ground,  that  without  interposing  a  desert  between  the  states 
and  this  savage  race,  no  security  could  be  enjoyed  on  the  frontier. 
The  attention  of  Congress  and  of  the  commander  was  now  called 
to  plans  for  the  campaign  of  1779.  The  former,  looking  to  their 
previous  successes,  and  the  powerful  co-operation  of  France,  che 
rished  the  most  brilliant  expectations,  and  had  formed  schemes 
truly  magnificent.  Concluding  that  the  English  would  be  speedily 
expelled,  or  would  of  their  own  accord  depart  from  America,  the 
chief  object  was  to  be  the  invasion  of  Canada  from  three  different 
points,  the  French  being  invited  to  co-operate.  Washington,  on 
learning  this  vast  design,  took  the  utmost  pains  to  prove  its  futility. 
He  disclosed  to  them  the  painful  truths,  that  the  English  were  still 
so  powerful  both  by  land  and  sea,  as  to  afford  no  speedy  prospect  of 
their  complete  expulsion ;  while  the  exhausted  state  of  the  finances, 
the  imperfect  organization  of  the  army,  and  the  extreme  destitution 


STATE    OF    THE    COUNTRY.  351 

under  which  it  laboured,  furnished  no  means  whatever  for  carrying 
on  such  mighty  operations.  A  committee  of  Congress,  on  further 
consideration,  recommended  that  the  project  should  be  deferred; 
yet  the  members  still  clung  to  it,  fondly  contemplating  its  execution 
some  lime  before  the  season  closed,  and  wishing  communications 
to  be  opened  on  that  subject  with  the  French  court.  The  general, 
considering  the  project,  even  thus  modified,  as  still  quite  inadmis 
sible,  repaired  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  urged  strongly  all  his 
former  arguments,  and  confidentially  pointed  out  to  the  leading 
statesmen  the  danger  of  admitting  France  into  a  country  where  she 
had  so  long  ruled,  and  whose  people  bore  still  decided  traces  of  her 
relationship.  It  appears,  indeed,  that,  probably  from  the  dread  of 
embarrassment  in  some  future  negotiation,  that  power  by  no  means 
favoured  schemes  of  American  conquest.  Washington  at  last  suc 
ceeded  in  convincing  Congress,  that  instead  of  these  grand  mea 
sures  of  invasion,  they  must  limit  themselves,  during  the  present 
campaign,  to  a  course  strictly  defensive. 

In  fact,  both  the  civil  and  military  strength  of  the  union  was 
now  at  a  lower  ebb  than  at  any  time  since  the  struggle  com 
menced.  The  members  of  Congress  had  originally  consisted  of 
the  ablest  men  in  America,  animated  by  the  most  ardent  zeal,  and 
implicitly  obeyed  by  all  the  votaries  of  their  cause.  After  the  de 
claration  of  independence,  however,  a  new  modification  of  the 
government  wras  considered  necessary.  A  constitution  was  drawn 
up,  and,  after  many  delays  and  difficulties,  brought  into  operation 
early  in  1779,  under  which  the  state  legislatures  were  invested 
with  all  the  most  important  powers,  resigning  only  a  few  which 
were  judged  indispensable  for  united  action.  Congress  still  re 
tained  the  direction  of  foreign  affairs,  of  the  war,  and  consequently 
of  the  naval  and  military  force ;  but  to  furnish  men  and  supplies 
for  these  services,  they  had  no  resource,  except  requisitions,  ad 
dressed  to  the  state  legislatures.  The  latter  had  the  complete 
option,  whether  they  should  or  should  not  comply,  and  had  many 
motives  which  strongly  inclined  them  to  the  latter  alternative  ;  in 
deed,  compliance  could  only  be  afforded  by  measures  very  unpo 
pular,  and  which  would  have  much  disobliged  their  constituents. 
The  demands  of  Congress  were  thus  only  partially  and  unequally 
fulfilled,  and  the  levies  never  approached  the  amount  at  which 
they  were  nominally  fixed.  The  financial  state  of  the  country,  too, 
was  embarrassing  in  the  extreme.  The  colonists,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  war,  had  been  very  little  accustomed  to  any  serious  taxation; 
and  having  taken  arms  expressly  to  resist  it,  would  have  ill  brooked 


352  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

paying  a  larger  amount  for  their  expenses  than  Britain  had  ever 
demanded.     It  was  not  till  November,  1777,  that  Congress  ven 
tured  to  make  a  requisition  of  five  millions  of  dollars  annually,  to 
which  the  states  but  faintly  responded.     France  and  Spain  gave 
some  assistance,  first  in  gift,  and  then  in  loan  ;  but  as  their  own 
finances  grew  embarrassed,  these  contributions  became  very  stinted. 
The  commissioners  endeavoured  to  treat  for  loans  with  European 
capitalists,  especially  in  Holland,  and  with  this  view  drew  a  flat-, 
tering  picture  of  the  future  prosperity  of  the  new  republic,  and  her 
ultimate  power  to  repay  even  the  largest  advances  ;  but  the  Dutch 
were  not  inclined  to  be  satisfied  with  such  security,  and  money 
could  be  got  only   in  small  amounts,   and  on  exorbitant  terms. 
One  house  made  a  somewhat  liberal  offer,  but  on  condition  of  car 
rying  on  the  whole  trade  of  the  Union,  and  holding  all  its  real  and 
personal  property  in  mortgage.     In  these  circumstances,  the  states 
had  no  resource  except  paper  money.     In  1775,  they  issued  three 
millions  of  dollars  ;  and  this  moderate  amount  being  easily  ab 
sorbed  in  the  circulation,  proved  an  available  resource.   They  were 
thus  encouraged  to  pour  forth  repeated  issues,  which,  at  the  begin 
ning  of  1779,  had  risen  to  above  a  hundred  millions,   and  in  the 
course  of  the  year  to  double  that  amount,  which  they  had  pledged 
themselves  not  to  exceed.     The  necessary  consequence  was  a  de 
preciation  of  the  notes  to  about  a  fortieth  part  of  their  nominal 
value,  and  hence  a  miserable  derangement  in  all  mercantile  and 
money  transactions.    The  evil  was  aggravated,  too,  by  preposterous 
remedies.    The  paper  at  its  nominal  value  was  made  a  legal  tender 
for  all  debts  ;  and  by  this  iniquitous   measure,  which  Washington 
deeply  regretted,  many  creditors,  both  public  and  private,  were 
defrauded,  but  no  permanent  relief  could  be  afforded.    As  the  arti 
cles  furnished  to  the  army,  like  all  others,  rose  to  an  enormous 
nominal  value,  they  were  so  ignorant  as  to  fix  a  maximum,  above 
which  they  should  not  be  received.     The  consequence  was,  that 
at  this  inadequate  rate  none  could  be  got ;  and  the  army  would 
Imve  perished  had  not  these  absurd  regulations  been  rescinded.* 

A  naval  action  which  took  place  this  year  excited  considerable 
interest,  from  the  distressing  circumstances  attending  it.  On  the 
7th  of  March,  1778,  the  Randolph,  an  American  frigate  of 
thirty-six  guns,  and  three  hundred  and  five  men,  commanded  by 
Captain  Nicholas  Biddle,  having  sailed  on  a  cruise  from  Charles 
ton,  fell  in  with  the  Yarmouth,  of  sixty-four  guns,  and  engaged 
her  in  the  night.  Soon  after  the  engagement  commenced,  Captain 

*  Allen. 


LOSS    OF    THE    RANDOLPH. 


353 


Biddle  was  wounded  in  the  thigh,  and  fell.  He  instantly  ordered 
a  chair  to  be  brought ;  said  he  was  only  slightly  wounded ;  and 
was  carried  forward  to  encourage  his  crew.  Twenty  minutes  after 
the  action  commenced,  the  Randolph  blew  up.  Four  men  only 
were  saved  upon  a  piece  of  her  wreck.  These  men  subsisted  for 
four  days  on  nothing  but  rain  water,  which  they  sucked  from 
a  piece  of  blanket.  On  the  fifth  day,  Captain  Vincent  of  the  Yar 
mouth,  though  in  chase  of  a  ship,  on  discovering  them,  sus 
pended  the  chase  and  took  them  on  board.  Captain  Biddle,  who 
perished  on  board  the  Randolph,  was  an  officer  of  distinguished 
merit ;  and  his  loss  was  universally  regretted. 


UNlYERSfT 


45 


354 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


of 


HE  conquest  of  Canada  being  still  a 
favourite  scheme,  General  Washington 
was  requested,  by  a  resolution  of  Con 
gress,  to  write  to  Dr.  Franklin,  the  Ame 
rican  minister  at  Paris,  explaining  to 
him  the  proposed  expedition  against  that 
province,  with  a  view  to  interest  him 
in  securing  the  co-operation  of  France. 
In  reply,  he  wrote  to  Congress  a  letter, 
from  Middlebrook,  dated  13th  of  Decem 
ber,  1778,  in  which  he  said  : 

«  The  earnest  desire  I  have  to  render  the  strictest  compliance  in 
every  instance  to  the  views  and  instructions  of  Congress,  cannot 
but  make  me  feel  the  greatest  uneasiness,  when  I  find  myself  in 
circumstances  of  hesitation  or  doubt  with  respect  to  their  directions. 
But  the  perfect  confidence  I  have  in  the  justice  and  candour  of  that 


PROPOSED    INVASION    OF    CANADA.  355 

honourable  body  emboldens  me  to  communicate,  without  reserve, 
the  difficulties  which  occur  in  the  execution  of  their  present  order; 
and  the  indulgence  I  have  experienced  on  every  former  occasion 
induces  me  to  imagine,  that  the  liberty  I  now  take  will  not  meet 
with  their  disapprobation. 

«  I  have-  attentively  taken  up  the  report  of  the  committee,  re 
specting  the  proposed  expedition  into  Canada.  I  have  considered 
it  in  several  lights,  and  sincerely  regret,  that  I  should  feel  myself 
under  any  embarrassment  in  carrying  it  into  execution.  Still,  I 
remain  of  opinion,  from  a  general  review  of  things,  and  the  state 
of  our  resources,  that  no  extensive  system  of  co-operation  with  the 
French,  for  the  complete  emancipation  of  Canada,  can  be  posi 
tively  decided  on  for  the  ensuing  year.  To  propose  a  plan  of  per 
fect  co-operation  writh  a  foreign  power,  without  a  moral  certainty 
of  our  supplies,  and  to  have  that  plan  actually  ratified  by  the  court 
of  Versailles,  might  be  attended,  in  case  of  failure  in  the  conditions 
on  our  part,  with  very  fatal  effects. 

"  If  I  should  seem  unwilling  to  transmit  the  plan  as  prepared 
by  Congress,  with  my  observations,  it  is  because  I  find  myself 
under  a  necessity,  in  order  to  give  our  minister  sufficient  ground 
on  which  to  found  an  application,  to  propose  something  more  than 
a  vague  and  undecisive  plan,  which,  even  in  the  event  of  a  total 
evacuation  of  these  states  by  the  enemy,  may  be  rendered  imprac 
ticable  in  the  execution,  by  a  variety  of  insurmountable  obstacles  ; 
or,  if  I  retain  my  present  sentiments  and  act  consistently,  I  must 
point  out  the  difficulties  as  they  appear  to  me  :  which  must  em 
barrass  his  negotiations,  and  may  disappoint  Jhe  views  of  Con 
gress. 

"  But,  proceeding  on  the  idea  of  the  enemy's  leaving  these 
states,  before  the  active  part  of  the  ensuing  campaign,  I  should 
fear  to  hazard  a  mistake  as  to  the  precise  aim  and  extent  of  the 
views  of  Congress.  The  line  of  conduct  that  I  am  to  observe,  in 
writing  to  our  minister  at  the  court  of  France,  does  not  appear 
sufficiently  marked.  Were  I  to  undertake  it,  I  should  be  much 
afraid  of  erring,  through  misconception.  In  this  dilemma,  I 
should  esteem  it  a  particular  favour  to  be  excused  from  writing  at 
all  on  the  subject,  especially  as  it  is  the  part  of  candour  in  me  to 
acknowledge,  that  I  do  not  see  my  way  clear  enough  to  point 
out  such  a  plan  for  co-operation  as  I  conceive  to  be  consistent 
with  the  ideas  of  Congress,  and  that  will  be  sufficiently  explana 
tory,  with  respect  to  time  and  circumstances,  to  give  efficacy  to 
the  measure.  But,  if  Congress  still  think  it  necessary  for  me  to 


356  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

proceed  in  the  business,  I  must  request  their  more  definitive  and 
explicit  instructions,  and  that  they  will  permit  me,  previous  to 
transmitting  the  intended  despatches,  to  submit  them  to  their  de 
termination. 

« I  could  wish  to  lay  before  Congress  more  minutely  the  state 
of  the  army,  the  condition  of  our  supplies,  and  the  requisites  ne 
cessary  for  carrying  into  execution  an  undertaking  that  may  in 
volve  the  most  serious  events.  If  Congress  think  this  can  be  done 
more  satisfactorily  in  a  personal  conference,  I  hope  to  have  the 
army  in  such  a  situation,  before  I  can  receive  their  answer,  as  to 
afford  me  an  opportunity  of  giving  my  attendance." 

The  personal  interview  requested  in  the  latter  part  of  this  letter 
was  agreed  to,  and  the  commander-in-chief,  leaving  the  head-quar 
ters  of  this  army  on  the  22d  of  December,  presented  himself  before 
Congress  on  the  24th.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  confer  with 
him  on  the  operations  of  the  coming  campaign.  Such  wras  the 
strength  and  cogency  of  the  arguments  which  he  used  to  con 
vince  this  committee  of  the  impracticability  of  the  Canada  ex 
pedition,  that  in  five  days  they  decided,  and  their  decision  was 
approved  by  Congress,  to  lay  aside  all  thoughts  of  such  an  under 
taking. 

In  this,  and  all  other  instances  throughout  the  life  of  General 
Washington,  it  is  not  easy  to  determine  wherein  he  was  most  essen 
tial  to  the  welfare  of  his  country  ;  whether  in  the  skill  and  bravery 
with  which  he  led  her  armies  to  victory,  or  in  the  passive,  but  not 
less  inflexible  aspect  of  his  character  ;  in  the  unconquerable  firm 
ness  with  which  ^e  stood  up  under  the  severest  complication  of 
misfortunes  ;  in  the  singular  uprightness  and  wisdom  by  which  he 
was  qualified  to  compose  the  dissensions  of  men  and  parties,  and 
the  commanding  but  unobtruded  influence  with  which  he  could 
sway  the  collective  mind  of  a  legislature  or  an  empire. 

Washington  remained  in  Philadelphia  about  five  weeks,  during 
which  time  he  submitted  to  the  committee  of  Congress  three  plans 
of  operations  for  the  next  campaign,  with  remarks  on  the  mode 
of  executing  them.  The  first,  proposed  an  attempt  to  drive  the 
enemy  from  the  posts  which  they  then  occupied  at  New  York  and 
Rhode  Island  ;  the  second,  an  expedition  against  Niagara,  which 
would  give  security  upon  the  northern  frontier,  and  open  a  door 
into  Canada,  which  might  be  afterwards  used  or  not,  as  policy 
might  dictate  ;  and  the  third  plan  proposed  to  hold  the  army  en 
tirely  on  the  defensive,  except  such  smaller  operations  against  the 
Indians,  as  would  be  absolutely  necessary  to  chastise  them  for  de- 


PLAN   OF  THE    FIFTH   CAMPAIGN.  357 

predations  on  the  frontiers,  and  prevent  them  from  a  repetition  of 
the  same. 

The  advantages  and  disadvantages  which  were  attendant  upon 
each  of  these  plans,  were  laid  fully  before  the  committee,  and  by 
them  communicated  to  Congress. 

«  It  is  much  to  be  regretted,"  he  said,  after  discussing  the  twro 
plans,  "  that  our  prospect  of  any  capital  offensive  operations  is  so 
slender,  that  we  seem  in  a  manner  to  be  driven  to  the  necessity  of 
adopting  the  third  plan,  that  is,  to  remain  entirely  on  the  defensive, 
except  such  lesser  operations  against  the  Indians  as  are  absolutely 
necessary  to  divert  their  ravages. from  us.  The  advantages  of 
this  plan  are  these  :  It  will  afford  an  opportunity  of  retrenching 
our  expenses,  and  of  adopting  a  general  system  of  economy,  which 
may  give  success  to  the  plans  of  finance  which  Congress  have  in 
contemplation,  and  perhaps  enable  them  to  do  something  effectual 
for  the  relief  of  public  credit,  and  for  restoring  the  value  of  our  cur 
rency.  It  will  also  give  some  repose  to  the  country  in  general, 
and  by  leaving  a  greater  number  of  hands  to  cultivate  the  lands, 
remove  the  apprehension  of  a  scarcity  of  supplies. 

"If  this  plan  is  determined  upon,  every  measure  of  government 
ought  to  correspond.  The  most  uniform  principle  of  economy 
should  pervade  every  department.  We  should  not  be  frugal  in 
one  part,  and  prodigal  in  another.  We  should  contract,  but  we 
should  consolidate  our  system.  The  army,  though  small,  should 
be  of  a  firm  and  permanent  texture.  Every  thing  possible  should 
be  done  to  make  the  situation  of  the  officers  and  soldiers  comfort 
able,  and  every  inducement  offered  to  engage  men  during  the 
war.  The  most  effectual  plan  that  can  be  devised  for  enlisting 
those  already  in  the  army,  and  recruiting  in  the  country,  ought  to 
be  carried  into  immediate  execution. 

«I  shall  not  enter  particularly  into  the  measures  that  may  be 
taken  against  the  Indians,  but  content  myself  writh  the  general  idea 
thrown  out,  unless  it  should  be  the  pleasure  of  the  committee  that 
I  should  be  more  explicit.  The  main  body  of  the  army  must  take 
a  position  so  as  to  be  most  easily  subsisted,  and  at  the  same  time 
best  situated  to  restrain  the  enemy  from  ravaging  the  country.  If 
they  should  hereafter  weaken  themselves  still  more,  so  as  to  give  a 
favourable  opening,  we  should  endeavour  to  improve  it. 

"This  plan  may  perhaps  have  some  serious  disadvantages.  Our 
inactivity  will  be  an  argument  of  our  weakness,  and  may  injure 
our  credit  and  confidence  with  foreign  powers.  This  may  influence 
the  negotiations  of  Europe  to  our  disadvantage.  I  would  not  sup- 


358  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

pose  it  could  alienate  our  allies,  or  induce  them  to  renounce  our 
interests.  Their  own,  if  well  understood,  are  too  closely  interwoven 
with  them  ;  their  national  faith  and  honour  are  pledged.  At  home, 
too,  it  may  serve  to  dispirit  the  people,  and  give  confidence  to  the 
disaffected.  It  will  give  leisure  for  factious  and  discontented  spirits 
to  excite  divisions.  How  far  these  inconveniences  ought  to  influ 
ence  us  in  our  operations,  Congress  can  alone  be  a  competent 
judge." 

Congress  resolved  to  adopt  the  third  plan,  and  in  the  beginning 
of  February  Washington  returned  to  the  head-quarters  of  his  army 
at  Middlebrook.  Some  of  the  evils  which  had  been  dreaded,  and 
in  some  degree  guarded  against,  soon  began  to  manifest  themselves. 
The  vigilance  of  the  people  was  lulled  and  their  energies  were  para 
lyzed  by  the  thought  that  their  independence  was  now  secure ;  that 
the  powerful  assistance  of  France,  the  second  nation  of  Europe,would 
not  fail  to  achieve  at  once  a  glorious  victory  for  them  over  their 
ancient  rival,  England ;  and  besides,  there  were  whispers  abroad 
that  Spain  was  about  to  declare  war  against  Great  Britain,  and 
that  Russia  refused  or  neglected  to  lend  the  latter  nation  aid,  which 
she  had  promised  her  since  the  commencement  of  hostilities. 

It  is  needless  to  show  the  fallacy  of  these  hopes.  Washington 
saw  \vith  great  concern  the  origin  and  gradual  spreading  of  this 
temper  among  his  countrymen,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
all  hopes  of  American  independence  would,  at  this  critical  period, 
have  ceased,  but  for  the  conduct  of  him  who  has  well  earned  for 
himself  the  title  of  Father  of  his  Country.  He  describes  this  period 
as  the  darkest  and  most  critical  that  had  occurred  since  the  com 
mencement  of  the  contest.  He  knew  enough  of  Britain  to  know 
that  the  war  was  not  yet  near  its  conclusion,  and  stimulated  Con 
gress  and  the  states  to  exertion,  by  every  consideration  which  he 
could  suggest.  Though  the  resolution  empowering  him  to  recruit 
the  army  was  passed  on  the  23d  of  January,  yet  the  requisition  for 
the  troops  wras  not  made  upon  the  states  until  the  9th  of  March. 

The  apprehensions  which  these  and  other  circumstances  excited 
in  the  mind  of  General  Washington,  are  thus  fully  stated  in  a  letter 
to  a  friend,  of  great  political  influence.  "I  am  particularly  desirous 
of  a  free  communication  of  sentiments  with  you  at  this  time,"  he 
says,  "because  I  view  things  very  differently,  I  fear,  from  what 
people  in  general  do,  who  seem  to  think  the  contest  at  an  end,  and 
that  to  make  money  and  get  places  are  the  only  things  now  remain 
ing  to  be  done.  I  have  seen,  without  despondency  even  for  a  mo 
ment,  the  hours  which  America  has  styled  her  gloomy  ones ;  but 


DEPENDENCE    ON    FRANCE.  359 

I  have  beheld  no  day  since  the  commencement  of  hostilities,  when 
I  have  thought  her  liberties  in  such  imminent  danger  as  at  present. 
Friends  and  foes  seem  now  to  combine  to  pull  down  the  goodly 
fabric  we  have  hitherto  been  raising  at  the  expense  of  so  much  time, 
blood,  and  treasure." 

After  censuring  with  some  freedom  the  prevailing  opinions  of 
the  day,  he  added,  "To  me  it  appears  no  unjust  simile  to  compare 
the  affairs  of  this  great  continent  to  the  mechanism  of  a  clock,  each 
state  representing  some  one  or  other  of  the  smaller  parts  of  it,  which 
they  are  endeavouring  to  put  in  fine  order,  without  considering 
how  useless  and  unavailing  their  labour  is,  unless  the  great  wheel, 
or  spring,  \vhich  is  to  set  the  whole  in  motion,  is  also  well  attended 
to,  and  kept  in  good  order.  I  allude  to  no  particular  state,  nor  do 
I  mean  to  cast  reflections  on  any  one  of  them,  nor  ought  I,  it  may 
be  said,  to  do  so  on  their  representatives ;  but,  as  it  is  a  fact  too 
notorious  to  be  concealed,  that  Congress  is  rent  by  party  ;  that 
much  business  of  a  trifling  nature  and  personal  concernment  with 
draws  their  attention  from  matters  of  great  national  moment  at  this 
critical  period ;  when  it  is  also  known  that  idleness  and  dissipation 
take  place  of  close  attention  and  application,  no  man  who  wishes 
well  to  the  liberties  of  this  country,  and  desires  to  see  its  rights 
established,  can  avoid  crying  out — where  are  our  men  of  abilities? 
Why  do  they  not  come  forth  to  save  their  country  ?  Let  this  voice, 
my  dear  sir,  call  upon  you,  Jefferson,  and  some  others.  Do  not, 
from  a  mistaken  opinion  that  we  are  to  sit  down  under  our  vine 
and  our  own  fig-tree,  let  our  hitherto  noble  struggle  end  in  igno 
miny.  Believe  me  when  I  tell  you  there  is  danger  of  it.  I  have 
pretty  good  reasons  for  thinking  that  administration,  a  little  while 
ago,  had  resolved  to  give  the  matter  up,  and  negotiate  a  peace 
with  us  upon  almost  any  terms ;  but  I  shall  be  much  mistaken  if 
they  do  not  now,  from  the  present  state  of  our  currency,  dissen 
sions,  and  other  circumstances,  push  matters  to  the  utmost  extre 
mity.  Nothing  I  am  sure  will  prevent  it  but  the  intervention  of 
Spain,  and  their  disappointed  hope  from  Russia." 

Nor  was  this  the  only  circumstance  which  called  for  the  interpo 
sition  of  the  general's  influence.  The  depreciation  of  the  paper 
currency  had  so  affected  the  pay  of  the  officers,  that  many  were 
reduced  to  absolute  indigence.  Their  sufferings  led  to  desperate 
measures  ;  and  in  the  following  May,  when  the  New  Jersey  bri 
gade  was  ordered  to  march,  as  a  part  of  the  western  expedition 
against  the  Indians,  the  officers  of  the  first  regiment  sent  a  memorial 
to  the  legislature  of  the,  state,  demanding,  in  very  strong  language, 


360  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

some  equitable  provision  for  them  and  their  men,  and  stating  that 
unless  their  demand  was  acceded  to,  they  would,  in  three  days, 
resign  their  commissions.  This  -proceeding  was  communicated  by 
Brigadier-general  Maxwell,  and  Washington  at  once  foresaw  the 
pernicious  results  which  would  ensue  from  s>ich  a  proceeding  to  the 
army  at  large,  and  he  endeavoured  to  obviate  them  by  addressing 
a  letter  to  General  Maxwell,  to  be  laid  before  the  officers,  exhorting 
them  to  order  and  obedience,  and  commanding  them  to  march  with 
the  brigade  in  the  first  place  to  head-quarters,  where  they  would 
receive  further  orders. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  legislature  of  New  Jersey  was  embarrassed 
by  the  form  of  the  application,  as  it  assumed  the  air  of  menace, 
and  some  of  the  members  said,  that  rather  than  yield  to  demands 
thus  presented,  however  reasonable  they  might  be,  they  would 
permit  the  brigade  to  be  disbanded.  To  obviate  this,  the  only 
difficulty  which  they  perceived,  they  hit  upon  the  expedient  of  per 
suading  the  officers  to  withdraw  their  memorial,  with  the  under 
standing  that  the  subject  would  then  be  instantly  taken  into  con 
sideration.  The  paper  was  withdrawn,  and  in  a  few  hours  reso 
lutions  were  passed,  granting  nearly  all  that  had  been  asked. 

Washington  improved  this  event,  in  communicating  it  to  Con 
gress,  to  urge  upon  them  the  absolute  necessity  of  some  general 
and  adequate  provision  for  the  officers  of  the  army  ;  and  observing 
"  that  the  distresses  in  some  corps  are  so  great,  either  where  they 
were  not  till  lately  attached  to  particular  states,  or  where  the  states 
have  been  less  provident,  that  officers  have  solicited  even  to  be 
supplied  with  the  clothing  destined  for  the  common  soldiery. 
Coarse  and  unsuitable  as  they  were,  I  had  not  power  to  comply 
with  the  request.  The  patience  of  men,  animated  by  a  sense  of 
duty  and  honour,  will  support  them  to  a  certain  point,  beyond 
which  it  will  not  go.  I  doubt  not  Congress  will  be  sensible  of  the 
danger  of  an  extreme  in  this  respect,  and  will  pardon  my  anxiety 
to  obviate  it." 

The  endeavours  of  Washington,  at  this  time,  to  stimulate  the 
exertions  of  his  countrymen,  were  so  far  effectual,  that  by  the  1st 
of  May,  he  found  nearly  sixteen  thousand  men  under  his  command. 
It  was,  however,  obviously  out  of  his  power  to  make  any  thing  like 
a  successful  attack  upon  the  strongholds  of  the  British  ;  and  he 
therefore  so  disposed  his  forces  as  to  protect  the  country  from  the 
incursions  of  the  enemy,  and  guard  the  high  lands  on  the  Hudson 
river.  Upwards  of  seven  thousand  men  were  stationed  at  Middle- 
brook,  under  the  immediate  command  of  Washington;  the  remainder 


AMERICANS    AT    WEST    POINT.  361 

were  on  both  sides  of  the  Hudson,  under  Generals  McDougall  and 
Putnam. 

At  the  same  time  the  British  army  at  New  York  and  Rhode 
Island  amounted  to  about  the  same  number,  (sixteen  thousand,)  but 
they  were  assisted  by  a  powerful  fleet,  which  enabled  them,  with 
small  detachments,  to  make  sudden  attacks  on  distant  parts  of  the 
country,  before  the  militia  could  be  gathered  together,  or  a  company 
of  regulars  arrive. 

It  was  in  this  way  that  General  Matthews,  with  eighteen 
hundred  men,  gained  such  success  in  Virginia.  He  left  Sandy 
Hook  on  the  5th  of  May,  and,  sailing  up  the  Chesapeake  bay, 
landed  without  opposition,  and  sending  small  parties  to  Ports 
mouth,  Norfolk,  Gosport,  and  Suffolk,  took  and  carried  off  or 
destroyed  a  large  quantity  of  naval  and  military  stores,  paying  no 
respect  to  private  property.  Having  thus  accomplished  the  object 
of  his  expedition,  he  reimbarked  his  troops  and  returned  to  New 
York,  before  the  end  of  the  month. 

Immediately  on  the  return  of  this  detachment,  the  British  army, 
under  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  transported  by  the  fleet,  proceeded  up 
the  Hudson  river.  During  the  previous  year,  fortifications  had  been 
commenced  at  West  Point,  which  was  deemed  more  defensible 
than  the  positions  lately  occupied  by  Forts  Clinton  and  Montgo 
mery.  The  works  at  this  place  were  yet  far  from  being  finished. 
It  was  a  matter  of  the  greatest  importance  to  General  Washington 
to  preserve  an  uninterrupted  communication  between  the  Middle 
and  Eastern  States.  The  great  road  leading  from  one  section  of 
the  country  to  the  other  crosses  the  Hudson  at  King's  Ferry,  some 
miles  below  West  Point.  Detachments  of  Washington's  army  now 
occupied  positions  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  commanding  the 
i'erry,  and  covering  the  incomplete  works  above.  That  on  the 
western  bank  was  stationed  on  a  rough  elevated  piece  of  ground 
called  Stony  Point,  where  defences  had  been  commenced,  but  were 
far  from  being  completed.  That  on  the  eastern  bank  occupied  a 
small  fort  called  Lafayette  on  Verplanck's  Point,  a  low  flat  penin 
sula,  projecting  some  distance  into  the.  river,  and  extending  to 
wards  the  works  on  the  other  side.  The  works  at  Fort  Lafayette 
were  in  a  state  of  greater  forwardness  than  those  at  Stony  Point. 
The  present  movement  of  the  British  army  and  fleet  was  intended 
to  effect  the  reduction  of  these  two  posts,  the  capture  of  West 
Point,  the  division  of  Washington's  army,  and  perhaps  that  of  the 
states  of  the  confederacy. 

Having  arrived  within  eight  miles  of  King's  Ferry,  Clinton 
40  2H 


362  LIFE    OF   WASHINGTON. 

landed  the  largest  division  of  his  army  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the 
river,  under  the  command  of  General  Vaughan,  \vhile  he  himself 
accompanied  the  other  division,  five  miles  higher  up  the  river,  and 
there  landed  on  the  western  side.  The  unfinished  works  at  Stony 
Point,  garrisoned  by  only  forty  men,  were  considered  too  weak  for 
defence  against  the  large  army  which  they  saw  cautiously  approach 
ing.  The  garrison  accordingly  abandoned  the  place,  after  setting 
fire  to  a  block-house  on  the  top  of  the  hill,  taking  with  them  their 
munitions  and  stores.  Clinton  took  possession  of  it  unopposed,  on 
the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  May  31st,  and  in  the  night  dragged 
up  some  heavy  cannon  and  mortars,  which  he  planted  on  the  brow 
of  the  hill,  pointing  towards  the  fort  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river. 

At  five  o'clock  the  next  morning,  a  heavy  fire  was  opened  upon 
Fort  Lafayette,  by  the  commanding  battery  at  Stony  Point,  and  the 
vessels  in  the  river,  two  of  which  succeeded  in  passing  the  fort, 
and  cutting  off  all  chance  of  retreat  by  water.  General  Vaughan, 
having  made  a  long  circuit,  completely  invested  the  place  by  land. 
Thus  surrounded  and  attacked  on  all  sides  by  a  vastly  superior 
force,  the  small  garrison  of  seventy  men,  commanded  by  Captain 
Armstrong,  held  out  the  whole  day,  and  then  capitulated,  surren 
dering  themselves  prisoners  of  war,  on  honourable  terms. 

Sir  Henry  Clinton  gave  immediate  directions  for  completing  the 
fortifications  of  both  posts,  and  putting  them  in  a  strong  state  of 
defence.  But  General  Washington,  having  received  early  informa 
tion  of  his  advance  up  the  river,  had  already  strengthened  West 
Point,  and  taken  such  a  strong  position  with  his  main  army  at 
Smith's  Clove,  that  he  saw  the  impossibility,  at  that  time,  either 
of  advancing  further,  or  attacking  with  a  chance  of  success  the 
American  camp.  Besides,  he  heard  that  Staten  Island  was  threat 
ened  in  his  absence.  He  deemed  it  most  advisable  to  place  such 
strong  garrisons  in  the  captured  posts  as  would  effectually  prevent 
their  being  retaken,  while  he,  with  the  main  army,  retired  to  a  cen 
tral  position,  from  which  he  might  give  assistance,  either  to  them 
on  the  one  hand,  or  to  New  York  and  its  dependencies  on  the 
other.  A  garrison  of  one  thousand  men  was  consequently  left  at 
Stony  Point,  one  of  five  thousand  at  Fort  Lafayette,  and  the  main 
army  retired  to  Phillipsburg. 

Clinton  next  attempted  by  a  diversion  in  Connecticut  to  draw 
General  Washington  from  the  strong  positions  which  he  had  taken 
in  the  highlands.  For  this  purpose  Major-general  Tryon,  with  two 
thousand  six  hundred  men,  sailed  from  New  York  on  the  3d  of 


TAKING   OF   STONY   POINT.  363 

July,  and  landed  on  the  coast  of  Connecticut.  After  pillaging 
New  Haven,  he  proceeded  to  Fairfield,  where,  meeting  with  some 
opposition,  he  became  infuriated,  destroyed  the  public  property, 
and  then  laid  the  village  in  ashes,  and  treated  many  unarmed  per 
sons  with  the  greatest  brutality.  The  towns  of  Norwalk  and  Green 
field,  which  were  successively  visited,  shared  the  same  unhappy 
fate  with  Fairfield.  The  ultimate  object  of  the  expedition  was  the 
town  of  New  London,  but  the  opposition  of  the  people  increased  to 
such  a  degree,  that  Tryon  thought  it  advisable  not  to  attempt  it 
for  the  present.  He  accordingly  returned  to  New  York,  to  boast 
of  his  exploits  to  General  Clinton. 

Intelligence  of  the  invasion  of  Connecticut  was  late  in  reaching 
the  commander-in-chief,  as  he  was  visiting  the  outposts  in  the 
vicinity  of  Stony  Point,  when  the  news  of  the  sailing  of  the  fleet 
was  received  at  head-quarters.  As  soon  as  he  learned  it,  however, 
he  promptly  despatched  continental  troops  from  the  nearest  en 
campments,  and  sent  expresses  to  the  governor  of  the  state,  and 
the  militia  officers  in  the  vicinity  of  what  he  supposed  would  be 
the  point  of  attack.  He  understood  the  design  of  the  British 
general,  howrever,  and  took  care  not  to  weaken  his  forces  in  the 
highlands  to  such  an  extent  as  to  give  him  the  desired  advantage. 
On  the  contrary,  he  immediately  planned  a  counter-attack  against 
Stony  Point,  which,  if  successful,  would  so  far  alarm  Clinton  as  to 
induce  him  to  recall  the  detachment  from  Connecticut  for  the  pur 
pose  of  defending  his  own  outposts. 

«  The  execution  of  the  plan  was  intrusted  to  General  Wayne, 
who  commanded  the  light  infantry  of  the  army.  Secrecy  was 
deemed  so  much  more  essential  to  success  than  numbers,  that  no 
addition  was  made  to  the  force  already  on  the  lines.  One  brigade 
was  ordered  to  commence  its  march,  so  as  to  reach  the  scene  of 
action  in  time  to  cover  the  troops  engaged  in  the  attack,  should 
any  unlooked-for  disaster  befall  them  ;  and  Major  Lee  of  the  light 
dragoons,  who  had  been  eminently  useful  in  obtaining  the  intelli 
gence  which  led  to  the  enterprise,  was  associated  with  General 
Wayne,  as  far  as  cavalry  could  be  employed  in  such  a  service. 
The  night  of  the  15th,  and  the  hour  of  twelve,  were  chosen  for  the 
assault. 

"Stony  Point  is  a  commanding  hill  projecting  far  into  the  Hud 
son,  which  washes  three-fourths  of  its  base.  The  remaining  fourth 
is,  in  a  great  measure,  covered  by  a  deep  marsh,  commencing 
near  the  river  on  the  upper  side,  and  continuing  into  it  below. 
Over  this  marsh  there  is  only  one  crossing-place  ;  but  at  its  June- 


364  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

tion  with  the  river  is  a  sandy  beach,  passable  at  low  tide.  On  the 
summit  of  this  hill  stood  the  fort.  In  addition  to  these  defences, 
several  vessels  of  war  were  stationed  in  the  river,  and  commanded 
the  ground  at  the  foot  of  the  hill.  The  garrison  consisted  of  about 
six  hundred  men,  commanded  by  Colonel  Johnson. 

«  General  Wayne  arrived  about  eight  in  the  afternoon  at  Spring 
Steel's,  one  and  a  half  miles  from  the  fort ;  and  made  his  disposi 
tions  for  the  assault. 

"It  was  intended  to  attack  the  works  on  the  right  and  left  flanks 
at  the  same  instant.  The  regiments  of  Febiger  and  of  Meigs,  with 
Major  Hull's  detachment,  formed  the  right  column,  and  Butler's 
regiment,  with  two  companies  under  Major  Murfree,  formed  the 
left.  One  hundred  and  fifty  volunteers,  led  by  Lieutenant-colonel 
Fleury  and  Major  Posey,  constituted  the  van  of  the  right,  and  one 
hundred  volunteers,  under  Major  Stewart,  composed  the  van  of  the 
left.  At  half-past  eleven,  the  two  columns  moved  to  the  assault, 
the  van  of  each  with  unloaded  muskets  and  fixed  bayonets.  They 
were  each  preceded  by  a  forlorn  hope  of  twenty  men,  the  one  com 
manded  by  Lieutenant  Gibbon,  and  the  other  by  Lieutenant  Knox. 
They  reached  the  marsh  undiscovered ;  and,  at  twenty  minutes 
after  twelve,  commenced  the  assault. 

Both  columns  rushed  forward  under  a  tremendous  fire.  Sur 
mounting  every  obstacle,  they  entered  the  works  at  the  point  of 
the  bayonet ;  and,  without  discharging  a  single  musket,  obtained 
possession  of  the  fort. 

"The  humanity  displayed  by  the  conquerors  was  not  less  con 
spicuous  nor  less  honourable  than  their  courage.  Not  an  indivi 
dual  suffered  after  resistance  had  ceased. 

"All  the  troops  engaged  in  this  perilous  service  manifested  a 
degree  of  ardour  and  impetuosity  which  proved  them  to  be  capa 
ble  of  the  most  difficult  enterprises  ;  and  all  distinguished  them 
selves  whose  situation  enabled  them  to  do  so.  Colonel  Fleury  was 
the  first  to  enter  the  fort  and  strike  the  British  standard.  Major 
Posey  mounted  the  works  almost  at  the  same  instant,  and  was  the 
first  to  give  the  watchword,  <  The  fort's  our  own.'  Lieutenants 
Gibbon  and  Knox  performed  the  service  allotted  to  them  with  a 
degree  of  intrepidity  which  could  not  be  surpassed.  Of  twenty 
men  who  constituted  the  party  of  the  former,  seventeen  were  killed 
or  wounded. 

"Sixty-three  of  the  garrison  were  killed,  including  two  officers. 
The  prisoners  amounted  to  five  hundred  and  forty-three,  among 
whom  were  one  lieutenant-colonel,  four  captains,  and  twenty  sub- 


THE    ARMY   AT    WEST    POINT.  365 

altern  officers.  The  military  stores  taken  in  the  fort  were  consider 
able. 

"The  loss  sustained  by  the  assailants  was  not  proportioned  to 
the  apparent  danger  of  the  enterprise.  The  killed  and  wounded 
did  not  exceed  one  hundred  men.  General  Wayne,  who  marched 
with  Febiger's  regiment  in  the  right  column,  received  a  slight 
wound  in  the  head,  which  stunned  him  for  a  time,  but  did  not 
compel  him  to  leave  the  column.  Being  supported  by  his  aides, 
he  entered  the  fort  with  the  regiment.  Lieutenant-colonel  Hay 
was  also  among  the  wounded."51 

An  attempt  was  at  the  same  time  made  on  the  opposite  fort,  but 
without  success.  This  failure,  together  with  the  fact  that  it  would 
require  a  garrison  of  fifteen  hundred  men  to  defend  Stony  Point 
against  the  enemy's  shipping,  induced  General  Washington  to 
demolish  and  abandon  it.  He  had  no  sooner  retired  than  it  was 
re-occupied  and  repaired  by  Sir  Henry  Clinton. 

Though  these  transactions  but  slightly  affected  the  general  aspect 
of  the  war,  yet  they  afforded  to  Congress  an  opportunity,  which  they 
gladly  embraced,  of  passing  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  general,  "  for  the 
wisdom,  vigilance,  and  magnanimity  with  which  he  conducted  the 
military  operations  of  the  nation,  and  particularly  for  the  enter 
prise  upon  Stony  Point."  They  also  unanimously  voted  their 
thanks  to  General  Wayne  for  his  brave  and  soldier-like  attack,  and 
presented  to  him  a  gold  medal  commemorative  of  the  event. 

After  replacing  the  garrison  of  Stony  Point,  Sir  Henry  Clinton 
descended  the  river,  and  took  post  above  Haerlem,  his  line  extending 
to  Kingsbridge.  General  Washington  established  his  head-quar* 
ters  at  West  Point,  on  the  21st  of  July,  and  from  that  day,  until 
the  month  of  December,  when  the  army  retired  to  winter  quarters, 
he  gave  his  attention  principally  to  the  completion  of  the  works  at 
that  post.  His  army  was  now  posted  for  the  purpose  of  defensive 
operations,  on  both  sides  of  the  Hudson.  The  right  wing,  under 
the  command  of  General  Putnam,  on  the  western  side,  occupying 
the  highlands  to  their  southern  point  at  King's  Ferry ;  the  left 
wing,  under  General  Heath,  was  stationed  on  the  east  side  of  the 
river;  while  the  centre,  consisting  only  of  the  garrison,  and  compa 
nies  on  fatigue  duty  at  West  Point,  was  under  the  immediate  com 
mand  of  General  McDougall.  From  this  strong  position  General 
Washington  frequently  detached  skirmishing  parties  on  both  sides 
of  the  river,  in  order  to  check  the  British  foragers,  and  to  restrain 
their  intercourse  with  the  loyalists.  Major  Henry  Lee,  who  corn- 

*  Marshall,  8vo,  p.  310—312. 
"Z  H  2 


366  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

manded  one  of  these  parties,  having  received  information  that  the 
garrison  of  the  British  post  at  Paulus  Hook,  on  the  Jersey  bank 
of  the  Hudson,  opposite  the  city  of  New  York,  was  in  a  state  of 
negligent  security,  planned  a  bold  and  hazardous  enterprise  for  its 
surprise  and  capture.  For  this  purpose  he  advanced  against  it 
silently,  on  the  morning  of  the  19th  of  August,  at  the  head  of  three 
hundred  men,  and  a  troop  of  dismounted  dragoons.  The  sentinel 
at  the  gate,  never  dreaming  that  an  enemy  could  advance  so  far 
within  the  lines,  and  supposing  the  force  advancing  so  orderly  and 
securely  to  be  a  detachment  which  had  gone  out  on  a  foraging  ex 
cursion  the  preceding  evening,  paid  no  further  attention  to  them 
until  they  were  within  the  enclosure,  when,  almost  in  an  instant, 
they  separated  into  parties  and  seized  the  block-house  and  two 
redoubts.  Major  Sutherland,  the  commandant  of  the  post,  with 
sixty  Hessians,  hastily  entered  another  redoubt  and  commenced 
a  brisk  fire  upon  the  assailants.  This  only  served  to  spread  the 
notice  of  the  attack ;  and  the  firing  of  guns  in  New  York,  and  by 
the  vessels  in  the  roads,  proved  that  the  alarm  was  general.  The 
design  of  Major  Lee,  being  not  to  keep  possession  of  this  post,  but 
to  carry  off  the  garrison,  to  reflect  credit  on  the  American  arms, 
and  to  encourage  a  spirit  of  enterprise  in  the  army,  he  immediately 
complied  with  the  verbal  instructions  of  the  commander-in- chief, 
given  to  him  some  days  previously,  and  retired  with  the  loss  of  two 
men  killed,  and  three  wounded,  carrying  with  him  one  hundred 
and  fifty-nine  prisoners. 

The  manner  of  life  of  Washington,  while  he  was  thus  effectually 
holding  the  enemy  in  check,  defeating  all  their  projects  for  getting 
possession  of  the  highlands,  and,  by  a  few  brilliant  strokes,  keeping 
the  public  mind  from  despondency,  may  be  gathered  from  a  letter, 
inviting  a  friend  to  dine  with  him  at  head-quarters,  dated  West 
Point,  16th  of  August,  1779.  This  letter,  which  was  addressed 
to  Dr.  Cochran,  surgeon  and  physician-general  of  the  army,  shows, 
that  in  the  midst  of  the  most  harassing  duties,  when  oppressed 
with  public  cares,  he  could  still,  when  occasion  required,  be  play 
ful  and  facetious.  The  letter  is  as  follows  : 

«  Dear  Doctor, — I  have  asked  Mrs.  Cochran  and  Mrs.  Livingston 
to  dine  with  me  to-morrow  ;  but,-  am  I  not  in  honour  bound  to 
apprize  them  of  their  fare  ?  As  I  hate  deception,  even  where  the 
imagination  only  is  concerned,  I  will.  It  is  needless  to  premise, 
that  my  table  is  large  enough  to  hold  the  ladies.  Of  this  they 
had  ocular  proof  yesterday.  To  say  how  it  is  usually  covered, 


MONSIEUR    GERARD.  367 

is  rather  more  essential ;  and  this  shall  be  the  purport  of  my 
letter. 

"  Since  our  arrival  at  this  happy  spot,  we  have  had  a  ham, 
sometimes  a  shoulder  of  bacon,  to  grace  the  head  of  the  table  ;  a 
piece  of  roast  beef  adorns  the  foot ;  and  a  dish  of  beans,  or  greens, 
almost  imperceptible,  decorates  the  centre.  When  the  cook  has  a 
mind  to  cut  a  figure,  which  I  presume  will  be  the  case  to-morrow, 
we  have  two  beef-steak  pies,  or  dishes  of  crabs,  in  addition,  one 
on  each  side  of  the  centre  dish,  dividing  the  space,  and  reducing 
the  distance  between  dish  and  dish,  to  about  six  feet,  which,  with 
out  them,  would  be  near  twelve  feet  apart.  Of  late  he  has  had  the 
surprising  sagacity  to  discover  that  apples  will  make  pies  ;  and 
it  is  a  question,  if,  in  the  violence  of  his  efforts,  we  do  not  get  one 
of  apples,  instead  of  having  both  of  beef-steaks.  If  the  ladies  can 
put  up  with  such  entertainment,  and  will  submit  to  partake  of  it 
on  plates,  once  tin,  but  now  iron,  (not  become  so  by  the  labour  of 
scouring,)  I  shall  be  happy  to  see  them ;  and  am,  dear  doctor, 
yours,"  &c. 

During  the  summer  of  1779,  Spain  engaged  in  the  war  with 
Great  Britain  on  the  side  of  France,  but  though  she  received  a  min 
ister  from  the  United  States,  no  definitive  treaty  was  entered  into 
between  the  two  countries  for  some  time.  This  delay  was  occa 
sioned  by  the  grasping  policy  of  Spain,  and  some  difficulties  which 
arose  in  relation  to  the  western  boundary  of  the  United  States,  and 
the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  River,  to  its  mouth.  Not 
withstanding  this,  substantial  assistance  was  expected  from  her, 
in  the  obstacles  and  hindrances  which  she  was  able  to  lay  in  the 
way  of  Great  Britain. 

While  the  head-quarters  of  the  army  wTas  at  WTest  Point,  Wash 
ington  Avas  visited  by  Monsieur  Gerard,  the  French  minister  to  the 
United  States,  who  informed  him  of  the  approach  of  a  large  French 
fleet,  under  the  command  of  the  Count  d'Estaing.  Congress  hav 
ing  delegated  to  the  commander-in-chief  the  power  of  arranging 
the  manner  in  which  the  allies  should  co-operate  with  each  other, 
various  plans  wrere  agreed  upon  between  him  and  Monsieur  Ge 
rard,  which,  however,  the  repulse  of  the  fleet  before  Savannah,  and 
its  subsequent  withdrawal,  prevented  from  being  carried  into  exe 
cution.  While  the  French  minister  was  at  WTest  Point,  he  wrote  a 
letter  to  the  Count  of  Vergennes,  from  which  the  following  extract 
is  taken,  as  showing  the  opinion  which  his  visit  led  him  to  form 
of  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  American  armies.  He  says  : 


368  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

« I  have  had  many  conversations  with  General  Washington, 
some  of  which  have  continued  for  three  hours.  It  is  impossible 
for  me  briefly  to  communicate  the  fund  of  intelligence  which  I 
have  derived  from  him  ;  but  I  shall  do  it  in  my  letters,  as  occa 
sions  shall  present  themselves.  I  will  now  Say  only,  that  I  have 
formed  as  high  an  opinion  of  the  powers  of  his  mind,  his  modera 
tion,  his  patriotism  and  his  virtues,  as  I  had  before  from  common 
report  conceived  of  his  military  talents,  and  of  the  incalculable  ser 
vices  he  has  rendered  to  his  country." 

The  approach  of  D'Estaing  alarmed  Sir  Henry  Clinton  for  the 
safety  of  his  garrison  at  Rhode  Island.  Apprehensive  that  he 
would  come  towards  the  north,  and,  with  a  strong  preponderance 
of  naval  force,  attack  his  troops  at  Newport,  or,  uniting  with 
Washington,  outnumber  him  and  attack  New  York,  he  ordered 
the  immediate  evacuation  of  Rhode  Island,  and  the  concentration 
of  the  British  forces  at  New  York.  Accordingly,  the  troops  which 
for  three  years  had  occupied  the  former  place,  arrived  at  New 
York  on  the  27th  of  October.  Clinton  now  meditated  a  southern 
expedition,  and  was  actively  engaged  in  completing  some  strong 
works  at  New  York  and  Brooklyn,  which  might  be  defended  by  a 
few,  while  he,  with  the  main  army,  should  seek  a  more  glorious 
scene  of  action  than  could  be  hoped  for  in  the  presence  of  Wash 
ington. 

Washington,  meanwhile,  devoted  the  time  which  a  comparative 
relaxation  from  active  service  in  the  field  afforded  him,  to  an  ob 
ject,  the  prosecution  of  which  had  been  but  little  encouraged  by 
past  success.  This  was,  to  convince  the  Congress  of  the  impolicy 
and  danger  of  their  present  system,  or  rather  want  of  system  in 
the  administration  of  their  military  affairs.  It  is  really  astonishing 
that  the  experience  of  such  repeated  evils  as  flowed  from  the  exist 
ing  arrangements,  had  not  induced  them  long  before  to  listen  to 
the  advice  of  their  commander-in-chief.  But  at  this  period  the 
evils  of  short  enlistments  were  as  heavy  and  embarrassing  as  they 
were  before  Washington  exposed  them,  and  prayed  for  their  re 
moval,  in  almost  every  communication,  both  public  and  private. 
In  November  of  this  year,  he  presented  a  minute  report  to  Con 
gress  of  the  state  of  the  army,  by  which  it  appeared  that  his  whole 
force,  the  names  which  appeared  on  his  muster-rolls,  (which,  as  is 
universally  the  case,  materially  exceeded  the  real  strength  of  his 
army,)  was  twenty-seven  thousand  and  ninety-nine.  This  number 
included  all  sorts  of  troops,  non-commissioned  officers  and  pri 
vates,  and  drummers  and  filers.  That  of  this  number  about  fifteen 


OPERATIONS    IN    GEORGIA.  369 

thousand  were  stated  to  be  engaged  for  the  war,  while  of  the 
remainder,  it  appeared  that  between  that  time  and  the  last  of  the 
following  June,  the  time  of  service  of  ten  thousand  one  hundred 
and  fifty-eight  would  expire.  To  supply  this  deficiency  he  sub 
mitted  a  plan,  founded  upon  the  principle  of  temporary  enlist 
ment,  which  he  had  so  long  unsuccessfully  laboured  to  supersede. 
It  contained,  as  a  leading  provision,  that  each  state  be  annually 
informed  by  Congress  of  the  real  deficiency  of  its  troops,  in  such 
time  that  the  men  drafted  might  join  the  army  on  the  first  of 
January  ;  and  that,  on  or  before  the  first  of  October,  annually,  a 
return  similar  to  that  which  he  then  presented  should  be  trans 
mitted  to  Congress,  to  enable  them  to  make  their  demands  with 
precision. 

Notwithstanding  the  manifest  expediency  of  following  these  sug 
gestions,  they  were  never  carried  into  effect ;  the  number  of  inde 
pendent  authorities  to  be  consulted,  the  want  of  a  supreme  execu 
tive,  and  of  the  power  of  Congress  to  raise  the  troops — these  and 
similar  defects  paralyzed  every  effort  of  the  commander-in-chief, 
and  the  result  clearly  demonstrated  that  whatever  advantages  the 
new  confederation  had  conferred  on  the  states,  it  was  badly  adapted 
for  the  despatch  of  business. 

On  the  1st  of  December,  1779,  the  American  army  retired  into 
winter  quarters.  They  were  divided  between  West  Point  and 
Morristown,  to  which  latter  place  Washington  removed  his  head 
quarters.  Here  the  army  again  suffered  the  extreme  privations 
consequent  upon  wintering  such  a  large  body  of  men  within  nar 
row  limits. 

Towards  the  end  of  December,  General  Clinton  having  securely 
garrisoned  New  York,  and  received  reinforcements  from  Europe, 
embarked  about  seven  thousand  men  on  board  of  the  fleet  now 
under  the  command  of  Admiral  Arbuthnot,  and  sailed  for  South 
Carolina. 

More  important  military  operations  took  place  in  the  southern 
states,  which  had  hitherto  escaped  the  scourge  of  war.  Colonel 
Campbell,  who  had  been  detached  from  New  York  against  Georgia, 
in  the  latter  part  of  1778,  arrived  at  Savannah,  about  the  end  of 
December,  and  summoned  the  garrison  to  surrender.  The  Americans 
were  commanded  by  General  Howe,  who,  suffering  the  enemy  to 
approach  him  in  the  rear,  was  attacked  on  all  sides  at  once,  and 
completely  routed,  wi  h  the  loss  of  five  hundred  men  who  became 
the  prisoners  of  the  British.  Howe  retreated  into  South  Carolina, 
leaving  all  lower  Georgia  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Soon  after, 
47 


370  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

General  Prevost  entered  from  Florida,  reduced  Sunbury,  and  taking 
upon  himself  the  chief  command,  despatched  Campbell  against 
Augusta,  the  only  remaining  American  post  in  the  state.  The  fall 
of  Augusta  gave  the  British  complete  possession  of  Georgia. 

Congress,  in  the  mean  time,  had  passed  a  resolution  recalling 
General  Howe,  and  General  Lincoln  was  appointed  to  succeed 
him.  He  only  arrived  in  South  Carolina  in  time  to  cover  that 
state  against  the  advance  of  the  victorious  army  under  General 
Prevost.  Soon  after  his  arrival,  a  company  of  seven  hundred  Tory 
refugees,  who  had  been  compelled  by  the  severities  of  their  coun 
trymen  to  take  refuge  among  the  Indians,  attempted  to  rejoin  the 
king's  forces.  They  were  met  and  attacked  by  a  small  body  of 
militia  under  Colonel  Pickens,  their  commander  was  killed,  and 
upwards  of  three  hundred  of  them  were  taken  prisoners. 

This  success  encouraged  General  Lincoln,  who  was  daily  re 
ceiving  reinforcements,  to  send  a  detachment  of  fourteen  hundred 
men  under  General  Ashe  across  the  Savannah  river,  to  take  post  at 
its  junction  with  Briar  Creek,  in  the  hope  of  cutting  off  the  communi 
cation  of  the  English  at  Augusta  with  the  main  army.  On  receiving 
information  of  this  movement,  General  Prevost  detached  a  party 
under  the  command  of  his  brother,  who,  making  a  circuit  of  fifty 
miles,  crossed  Briar  Creek,  fifteen  miles  above  its  mouth,  and  com 
ing  unexpectedly  on  the  rear  of  General  Ashe's  party,  totally  routed 
them ;  the  regular  troops,  after  a  desperate  resistance,  being  all 
either  killed  or  taken. 

Notwithstanding  this  disaster,  Lincoln  again  reinforced,  deter 
mined  to  proceed  with  his  main  body  against  Augusta.  As  he 
crossed  the  river  above,  Prevost  crossed  below,  determined  to  recall 
him  from  Augusta  by  threatening  Charleston.  Intending  only  a 
feint,  he  proceeded  very  slowly  at  first,  until  he  saw  that  his  move 
ment  had  not  the  desired  effect  upon  Lincoln,  and  he  heard  of  the 
defenceless  state  of  the  capital  of  South  Carolina,  when  his  feint 
was  changed  to  a  real  invasion,  and  he  advanced  with  celerity, 

driving  Moultrie  with  the  militia  before  him  into  the  town.     The 

o 

alarm  had  been  given  as  soon  as  he  crossed  the  Savannah,  and  such 
active  preparations  had  been  made,  that  when  he  had  crossed  the 
Ashley  river,  advanced  just  beyond  cannon  shot  from  the  walls, 
and  summoned  the  governor  to  surrender,  he  did  not  venture  an 
attack,  but  retired  during  the  night  to  a  safe  distance,  and  finally, 
on  the  approach  of  the  victorious  Lincoln,  took  refuge  on  the  islands 
on  the  coast,  from  and  to  which  the  British  fleet  formed  an  easy  mode 
of  conveyance.  From  these  islands  he  began  to  transport  his  men 


DEFENCE   OF    SAVANNAH.  371 

to  Georgia,  about  the  middle  of  June ;  but  before  he  had  entirely 
completed  their  removal,  his  post  at  Stono  Ferry  was  attacked  by 
General  Lincoln,  who,  after  a  warm  engagement  of  an  hour  in 
length,  apprehensive  of  the  arrival  of  a  reinforcement  to  the  British 
from  St.  John  island,  drew  off  his  men,  and  retired  in  good  order, 
carrying  his  wounded  along  with  him.  The  British  loss  in  killed 
and  wounded  was  about  one  hundred  and  thirty  ;  that  of  the  Ame 
ricans,  one  hundred  and  ninety.  During  the  greater  part  of  the 
engagement  the  British  were  covered  by  their  works,  which  accounts 
for  their  smaller  number  killed  and  wounded.  The  midsummer 
heat  causing  a  suspension  of  military  operations,  the  British  retired 
by  their  shipping  to  Georgia. 

The  Count  d'Estaing,  then  in  the  West  Indies,  being  strongly 
importuned  by  Governor  Rutledge  and  General  Lincoln  to  repair  to 
Savannah  and  aid  in  driving  the  British  from  Georgia,  arrived  on 
the  coast  in  the  month  of  September,  and  surprised  and  captured 
a  fifty  gun  ship,  and  some  other  British  vessels. 

General  Lincoln,  with  about  a  thousand  men,  marched  to  Zubly's 
Ferry  on  the  Savannah,  and  took  up  a  strong  position  on  the  heights 
of  Ebenezer,  about  twenty-three  miles  from  the  city.  On  the  16th, 
D'Estaing  landed  three  thousand  men,  and  summoned  the  place  to 
surrender.  General  Prevost,  on  the  first  appearance  of  the  French 
fleet  on  the  coast,  had  ordered  all  the  British  detachments  and  gar 
risons  in  Georgia  to  concentrate  in  Savannah,  and  had  commenced, 
and  still  continued  actively  employed  in  strengthening  the  defences 
of  the  town.  At  the  time  of  the  summons  to  surrender,  the  works 
were  still  incomplete,  and  a  strong  detachment  which  had  been  in 
garrison  at  Beaufort  had  not  yet  arrived.  Such  being  the  state  of 
affairs,  it  was  of  the  utmost  consequence  to  the  British  general  to 
gain  time,  and  he  accordingly  requested  a  suspension  of  hostilities 
for  twenty-four  hours,  to  consider  the  subject  of  capitulation.  Dur 
ing  this  critical  interval,  the  expected  detachment  under  Colonel 
Maitland  arrived  from  Beaufort,  and  taking  some  by-road  unknown 
to  the  besiegers,  succeeded  in  entering  the  town.  About  the  same 
time,  General  Lincoln,  reinforced  by  the  garrison  of  Augusta  and 
Pulaski's  legion,  arrived  before  the  town  and  formed  a  junction 
with  the  French. 

Encouraged  by  the  arrival  of  Maitland,  Prevost,  at  the  expiration 
of  the  twenty-four  hours,  informed  D'Estaing  that  he  had  concluded 
to  defend  the  place  to  the  last  extremity.  The  allies  deemed  it 
imprudent  to  attempt  the  works  by  storm,  and  were  obliged  to  wait 
a  few  days  until  the  heavy  ordnance  and  stores  could  be  brought 


372  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

from  the  fleet.  On  the  23d  of  September,  ground  was  broken  in 
due  form,  and  on  the  1st  of  October,  by  regular  approaches,  they 
had  advanced  within  three  hundred  yards  of  the  walls  ;  but  the 
defence  was  prosecuted  with  such  vigour  and  skill  by  the  British 
engineer,  Major  Moncrieff,  that  it  was  supposed  a  long  time  would 
still  intervene  before  the  garrison  could  be  compelled  to  surrender. 
D'Estaing,  then  strongly  urged  by  his  officers,  refused  any  longer 
to  adventure  his  fleet  on  the  coast,  as  the  tempestuous  period  was 
fast  approaching,  and,  in  the  mean  time,  while  he  was  spending 
time  before  Savannah,  the  French  West  Indies  were  left  undefended 
to  the  mercy  of  the  British.  By  continuing  their  regular  approaches 
for  a  few  days  more,  the  besiegers  would  probably  have  made 
themselves  masters  of  the  place,  and  expelled  or  captured  the  only 
P^nglish  army  then  in  the  Southern  States ;  but  these  few  days 
D'Estaing  could  not  spare.  No  alternative  seemed  to  remain  but  to 
raise  the  siege  or  storm  the  place.  General  Lincoln,  rather  than  give 
up  the  expedition,  after  having  advanced  so  far,  in  opposition  to  his 
own  judgment,  accepted  the  offer  of  the  French  forces  to  make  the 
attempt  before  their  departure.  For  that  purpose,  on  the  morning 
of  the  9th  of  October,  a  heavy  cannonade  and  bombardment  opened 
on  the  town.  A  hollow  way  being  discovered  by  which  the  troops 
could  advance  within  fifty  yards  of  the  wall,  three  thousand  French 
and  fifteen  hundred  Americans  were  led  to  the  attack  in  three 
columns  by  D'Estaing  and  Lincoln.  The  party  pushed  on  with 
great  vigour ;  they  had  even  crossed  the  ditch,  mounted  the  para 
pet,  and  planted  their  standards  on  the  wall.  Being  here,  how 
ever,  exposed  to  a  tremendous  fire  from  works  well-constructed 
and  completely  manned,  they  were  checked.  Count  Pulaski,  at 
the  head  of  two  hundred  horsemen,  galloped  between  the  batteries 
towards  the  town,  with  the  intention  of  charging  the  garrison  in 
the  rear ;  but  he  fell,  mortally  wounded,  and  his  squadron  was 
broken.  The  vigour  of  the  assailants  began  to  abate ;  and,  after  a 
desperate  conflict  of  fifty  minutes,  they  were  driven  from  the  works, 
and  sounded  a  retreat. 

The  loss  of  the  French  in  this  unsuccessful  attack  was  seven 
hundred;  that  of  the  Americans,  two  hundred  and  thirty-four 
killed  and  wounded.  The  British,  being  mostly  under  cover, 
lost  only  fifty-five.  D'Estaing  immediately  embarked  and  sailed 
for  the  West  Indies,  and  the  campaign  was  ended,  to  the  disad 
vantage  of  the  Americans,  though  the  British  had  accomplished 
but  little  in  its  prosecution,  and  they  were  now  confined  within  the 
wall  of  one  town,  Savannah. 


CLINTON'S   EXPEDITION  TO   CHARLESTON.    373 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 


of 


EANTIME  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  Bri 
tish  forces  in  America,  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  had 
determined  to  transfer  the  principal  seat  of  war 
to  the  Southern  States.  Leaving,  therefore,  the 
command  of  the  royal  army  in  New  York  to 
General  Knyphausen,  he  sailed  from  that  city 
on  the  26th  of  December,  1777,  under  convoy 
of  Admiral  Arbuthnot,  but  did  not  arrive  at  Savannah  till  the  end  of 
January.  The  passage  was  tempestuous,  some  of  the  transports 
and  victuallers  were  lost,  others  shattered,  and  a  few  taken  by  the 
American  cruisers.  Most  of  the  cavalry  and  draught-horses  per 
ished.  One  of  the  transports,  which  had  been  separated  from  the 
fleet,  was  captured  by  the  Americans  and  brought  into  Charleston 
on  the  23d  of  January,  and  the  prisoners  gave  the  first  certain 
notice  of  the  destination  of  the  expedition. 

21 


374  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

On  the  llth  of  February,  1780,  Clinton  landed  on  John's  Island, 
thirty  miles  from  Charleston ;  but  so  cautious  were  his  approaches 
that  it  was  not  till  the  29th  of  March,  that  he  broke  ground  at  the 
distance  of  eight  hundred  yards  from  the  American  works,  and 
commenced  a  formal  siege. 

The  determination  of  the  state  authorities  to  defend  the  town 
was  ill-advised.  General  Lincoln,  who  commanded  the  garrison, 
was  not  provided  with  sufficient  means  of  defence  ;  but  the  extreme 
reluctance  of  the  citizens  to  abandon  their  capital  to  the  enemy 
prevented  him  from  availing  himself  of  the  ample  opportunity 
afforded  for  evacuating  it ;  and  when,  on  the  9th  of  April,  Clinton, 
having  completed  his  first  parallel,  and  mounted  his  guns  in  bat 
tery,  sent  him  a  summons  to  surrender,  he  answered :  "Sixty  days 
have  passed  since  it  has  been  known  that  your  intentions  against 
this  town  were  hostile,  in  which  time  was  afforded  to  abandon  it ; 
but  duty  and  inclination  point  the  propriety  of  supporting  it  to  the 
last  extremity." 

The  siege  was  now  prosecuted  with  vigour,  and  on  the  12th  of 
May,  General  Lincoln  found  himself  under  the  necessity  of  capitu 
lating.  The  effective  strength  of  the  garrison  had  been  only  be 
tween  two  and  three  thousand  men,  while  the  besieging  army  con 
sisted  of  nine  thousand  of  the  best  of  the  British  troops. 

General  Lincoln  was  loaded  with  undeserved  blame  by  many  of 
his  countrymen  ;  for  he  conducted  the  defence  as  became  a  brave 
and  intelligent  officer.  The  error  lay  in  attempting  to  defend  the 
town ;  but,  in  the  circumstances  in  which  General  Lincoln  was 
placed,  he  was  almost  unavoidably  drawn  into  that  course.  It  was 
the  desire  of  the  state  that  the  capital  should  be  defended ;  and 
Congress,  as  well  as  North  and  South  Carolina,  had  encouraged 
him  to  expect  that  his  army  would  be  increased  to  nine  thousand 
men  ;  a  force  which  might  have  successfully  resisted  all  the  efforts 
of  the  royal  army.  But  neither  Congress  nor  the  Carolinas  were 
able  to  fulfil  the  promises  they  had  made  ;  for  the  militia  were 
extremely  backward  to  take  the  field,  and  the  expected  number  of 
continentals  could  not  be  furnished.  General  Lincoln  was,  there 
fore,  left  to  defend  the  place  with  only  about  one-third  of  the  force  he 
had  been  encouraged  to  expect.  At  any  time  before  the  middle 
of  April,  he  might  have  evacuated  the  town ;  but  the  civil  authority 
then  opposed  his  retreat,  which  soon  afterwards  became  difficult, 
and  ultimately  impracticable. 

The  fall  of  Charleston  was  a  matter  of  much  exultation  to  the 
British,  and  spread  a  deep  gloom  over  the  aspect  of  American 


TARLETON'S    QUARTER.  375 

affairs.  The  southern  army  was  lost ;  and,  although  small,  it  could 
not  soon  be  replaced.  In  the  southern  parts  of  the  Union  there  had 
always  been  a  considerable  number  of  persons  friendly  to  the  claims 
of  Britain.  The  success  of  her  arms  drew  over  to  the  British  cause 
all  those  who  are  ever  ready  to  take  part  with  the  strongest,  and 
discouraged  and  intimidated  the  friends  of  American  independence. 

After  gaining  possession  of  Charleston,  General  Clinton  sent  out 
detachments  to  complete  the  conquest  of  the  state.  One  of  these, 
under  Lord  Cornwallis,  proceeded  towards  the  frontiers  of  North 
Carolina.  Soon  after  passing  the  Santee,  Cornwallis,  learning  that 
Colonel  Buford  was  lying,  with  four  hundred  men  in  perfect  secu 
rity  near  the  border  of  North  Carolina,  detached  Colonel  Tarleton, 
with  his  cavalry,  named  the  Legion,  to  surprise  him.  In  this  Tarle 
ton  was  successful.  Attacked  by  seven  hundred  men,  Buford's 
party  threw  down  their  arms  and  made  no  resistance  ;  but  an  indis 
criminate  slaughter  ensued.  Many  begged  for  quarter,  but  no 
quarter  was  given.  Tarleton's  quarter,  after  this,  became  prover 
bial,  and  added  much  to  the  sanguinary  spirit  in  which  the  subse 
quent  operations  in  the  south  wrere  conducted. 

On  the  surrender  of  Charleston,  the  garrison  had  been  permitted 
to  return  to  their  homes  on  parole.  Clinton,  having  subsequently 
convinced  himself  that  the  state  was  completely  restored  to  its 
allegiance,  issued  a  proclamation,  on  the  3d  of  June,  calling  upon 
the  people  to  take  up  arms  in  the  royal  cause.  The  people  desired 
peace  ;  but  on  finding  that  they  must  fight  on  one  side  or  the  other, 
they  preferred  the  banners  of  their  country,  and  thought  they  had 
as  good  a  right  to  violate  the  allegiance  and  parole  which  Clinton 
had  imposed  upon  them,  as  he  had  to  change  their  state  from  that 
of  prisoners  to  that  of  British  subjects,  without  their  consent.  The 
proclamation,  therefore,  instead  of  raising  up  friends  to  the  British 
cause,  greatly  increased  the  number  of  its  open  enemies. 

On  the  5th  of  June,  Clinton  sailed  from  Charleston  for  New  York, 
leaving  Lord  Cornwallis  in  command  of  the  southern  army.  In 
order  to  connect  his  operations  in  the  south  with  those  which  led 
to  his  surrender  to  the  allied  army  under  Washington  and  Rocham- 
beau,  \ve  shall  hereafter  give  a  rapid  sketch  of  his  movements,  and 
those  of  Generals  Gates  and  Greene  in  the  Carolinas. 

While  the  transactions  just  related  were  going  on  in  the  Southern 
States,  some  interesting  events  happened  in  the  more  northern  parts 
of  the  Union,  where  General  Washington  was  beset  by  pressing  and 
formidable  difficulties.  The  finances  of  Congress  were  in  a  most 
depressed  condition,  and  the  urgent  wants  of  the  army  were  but  ill 


376  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

supplied.  The  evils  of  short  enlistment,  though  distinctly  under 
stood  and  strongly  felt,  could  not  be  remedied ;  and  the  places  of 
those  men  who  were  leaving  the  army  on  the  expiration  of  their 
stipulated  term  of  service,  could  not  easily  l^e  filled  up.  Besides, 
the  troops  were  in  danger  of  perishing  by  cold  and  famine.  During 
the  preceding  year,  General  Green  and  Colonel  Wadsworth  had 
been  at  the  head  of  the  quarter-master  and  commissary  departments ; 
and  notwithstanding  their  utmost  exertions,  the  wants  of  the  army 
had  been  ill-supplied.  After  being  put  into  winter  quarters,  it  was 
in  great  danger  of  being  dissolved  by  want  of  provisions.  The 
colonial  paper  money  was  in  a  state  of  great  and  increasing  depre 
ciation;  and,  in  order  to  check  the  alarming  evil,  Congress  resolved 
to  diminish  the  circulation  and  keep  up  the  value  of  their  paper 
currency,  by  withholding  the  necessary  supplies  from  the  public 
agents.  This  imprudent  resolution  threatened  the  ruin  of  the  army. 
Nobody  was  willing  to  make  contracts  with  the  public,  and  some  of 
those  entered  into  were  not  fulfilled. 

Congress,  jealous  of  the  public  agents,  because  ignorant  of  what 
was  really  necessary,  repeatedly  changed  the  form  of  its  engage 
ments  with  them ;  and  at  length,  by  its  fluctuating  policy,  real  wants, 
and  imprudent  parsimony,  brought  matters  to  such  extremities  that 
General  Washington  was  compelled  to  require  several  counties  of 
the  state  of  Jersey  to  furnish  his  army  with  certain  quantities  of 
provisions,  within  six  days,  in  order  to  prevent  them  from  being 
taken  by  force.  Although  the  provinces  were  much  exhausted,  yet 
the  people  instantly  complied  with  the  requisition,  and  furnished  a 
temporary  supply  to  the  army. 

Soon  after  Sir  Henry  Clinton  sailed  on  his  expedition  against 
Charleston,  towards  the  end  of  the  year  1779,  a  frost  of  unexam 
pled  severity  began.  The  Hudson,  East  River,  and  all  the  waters 
round  New  York  were  so  completely  frozen  that  an  army  with  ifs 
artillery  and  wagons  might  have  crossed  them  in  all  directions 
with  perfect  safety.  The  city  was  fortified  by  the  British  ;  but,  on 
account  of  its  insular  position,  several  parts  being  considered  of 
difficult  access,  were  left  undefended.  By  the  strength  of  the  ice, 
however,  every  point  became  exposed  ;  and  in  that  unforeseen  emer 
gency,  General  Knyphausen,  who  commanded  in  the  city  with  a 
garrison  of  ten  thousand  men,  took  every  prudent  precaution  for  his 
own  defence,  and  fortified  every  vulnerable  part ;  but  the  inefficiency 
of  the  American  army  was  his  best  security.  General  Washington 
easily  perceived  the  advantages  which  the  extraordinary  frost  gave 
him ;  but,  from  the  destitute  state  of  his  army,  he  was  unable  to 


THE    WINTER    OF    1779.  377 

avail  himself  of  them,  and  was  obliged  to  see  an  opportunity 
pass  away  which  was  probably  never  to  return.  The  army 
under  his  immediate  command  was  inferior  in  number  to  the 
garrison  of  New  York ;  it  was  also  ill  clad,  scantily  supplied 
with  provisions,  and  in  no  condition  to  undertake  offensive  ope 
rations. 

The  British  had  a  post  in  Staten  Island ;  and,  as  the  ice  opened 
a  free  communication  between  the  island  and  the  Jersey  coast, 
General  Washington,  notwithstanding  the  enfeebled  condition  of 
his  army,  resolved  to  attack  the  garrison,  and  appointed  Lord  Stir 
ling  to  conduct  the  enterprise.  The  night  of  the  14th  of  January 
was  chosen  for  the  attempt ;  but  though  the  Americans  used  every 
precaution,  yet  the  officer  commanding  on  Staten  Island  discovered 
their  intention,  and  took  effectual  measures  to  defeat  it.  The  at 
tack  was  repulsed,  though  but  little  loss  was  sustained  on  either 
side. 

The  extreme  cold  occasioned  much  suffering  in  New  York,  by 
want  of  provisions  and  fuel ;  for,  as  the  communication  by  water 
was  entirely  stopped,  the  usual  supplies  were  cut  off.  The  demand 
for  fuel,  in  particular,  was  so  pressing,  that  it  was  found  expedient 
to  break  up  some  old  transports,  and  to  pull  down  some  uninha 
bited  wooden  houses,  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  that  necessary 
article.  As  the  British  paid  in  ready  money  for  provisions  or  fire 
wood  carried  within  the  lines,  many  of  the  country  people,  tempted 
by  the  precious  metals,  so  rare  among  them,  tried  to  supply  the 
garrison.  The  endeavour  of  the  British  to  encourage  and  protect 
ihis  intercourse,  and  the  exertions  of  the  Americans  to  prevent  it, 
brought  on  a  sort  of  partisan  warfare,  in  which  the  former  most 
frequently  had  the  advantage.  In  one  of  the  most  important  of 
those  encounters,  a  captain  and  fourteen  men  of  a  Massachusetts 
regiment  were  killed  on  the  spot,  seventeen  were  wounded,  and 
ninety,  with  Colonel  Thompson  who  commanded  the  party,  were 
made  prisoners. 

Congress  found  itself  placed  in  very  difficult  circumstances.  It 
always  contained  a  number  of  men  of  talents,  and  manifested  no 
small  share  of  vigour  and  activity.  Many  of  the  members  were 
skilful  in  the  management  of  their  private  affairs,  and  having  been 
successful  in  the  world,  thought  themselves  competent  to  direct 
the  most  important  national  concerns,  although  unacquainted  with 
the  principles  of  finance,  legislation,  or  war.  Animated  by  that 
blind  presumption  which  often  characterizes  popular  assemblies, 
they  frequently  entered  into  resolutions  which  discovered  little 
48  2  i  2 


378  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

practical  wisdom.  In  pecuniary  matters  they  were  dilatory,  and 
never  anticipated  trying  emergencies,  or  made  provision  for  pro 
bable  events,  till  they  were  overtaken  by  some  urgent  necessity. 
Hence  they  were  frequently  deliberating  about  levying  troops  and 
supplying  the  army,  when  the  troops  ought*to  have  been  in  the 
field  and  equipped  for  active  service.  This  often  placed  the 
commander-in-chief  in  the  most  trying  and  perilous  circum 
stances. 

Congress  had  solemnly  resolved  not  to  exceed  two  hundred  mil 
lions  of  dollars  in  continental  bills  of  credit.  In  November,  1779, 
the  whole  of  that  sum  was  issued,  and  expended  also.  The  de 
mand  on  the  states,  to  replenish  the  treasury  by  taxes,  had  not  been 
fully  complied  with,  and.  even  although  it  had  been  completely 
answered,  it  would  not  have  furnished  a  sum  adequate  to  the  ex 
penses  of  the  government.  Instead  of  maturely  considering  and 
digesting  a  plan,  adhering  to  it,  and  improving  it  by  experience, 
Congress  often  changed  its  measures  ;  and,  even  in  the  midst  of 
those  distresses  which  had  brought  the  army  to  the  verge  of  disso 
lution,  was  busy  in  devising  new  and  untried  expedients  for  sup 
porting  it.  As  the  treasury  was  empty,  and  money  could  not  be 
raised,  Congress,  on  the  25th  of  February,  resolved  to  call  on  the 
several  states  for  their  proportion  of  provisions,  spirits,  and  forage, 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  army  during  the  ensuing  campaign  ; 
but  specified  no  time  within  which  these  were  to  be  collected  ; 
and  consequently  the  states  were  in  no  haste  in  the  matter.  In 
order  to  facilitate  compliance  with  this  requisition,  it  was  further 
resolved,  that  any  state  which  should  have  taken  the  necessary 
means  for  furnishing  its  quota,  and  given  notice  thereof  to  Con 
gress,  should  be  authorized  to  prohibit  any  continental  quarter 
master  or  commissary  from  purchasing  within  its  limits.  Every 
man  who  had  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  subject  easily  perceived 
the  defective  nature  and  dangerous  tendency  of  this  arrangement. 
It  was  an  attempt  to  carry  on  the  war  rather  by  separate  provincial 
efforts,  than  by  a  combination  of  national  strength  ;  and  if  the  army 
received  from  any  state  where  it  was  acting  the  appointed  quan 
tity  of  necessaries,  it  had  no  right,  though  starving,  to  purchase 
what  it  stood  in  need  of.  Besides,  the  carriage  of  provisions  from 
distant  parts  was  troublesome,  expensive,  and  sometimes  imprac 
ticable. 

The  troops  were  ill-clothed,  their  pay  in  arrear,  and  that  of 
the  officers,  owing  to  the  great  depreciation  of  the  paper  cur 
rency,  was  wholly  unequal  to  their  decent  maintenance.  These 


MUTINY    IN    THE    AMERICAN    ARMY:  379 

multiplied  privations  and  sufferings  soured  the  temper  of  the 
men  ;  and  it  required  all  the  influence  of  their  revered  com 
mander  to  prevent  many  of  the  officers  from  resigning  their  com 
missions.  The  long  condition  of  want  and  hardship  produced 
relaxation  of  discipline,  which  at  length  manifested  itself  in  open 
mutiny. 

On  the  25th  of  May,  two  regiments  belonging  to  Connecticut, 
whose  pay  was  five  months  in  arrears,  paraded  under  arms,  with 
the  avowed  intention  of  returning  home,  or  of  obtaining  subsist 
ence  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  The  rest  of  the  soldiers,  though 
they  did  not  join  in  the  mutiny,  showed  little  disposition  to  repress 
it.  At  length  the  two  regiments  were  brought  back  to  their  duty  ; 
but  much  murmuring  and  many  complaints  were  heard.  While 
the  army  was  in  such  want,  the  inhabitants  of  Jersey,  where  most 
of  the  troops  were  stationed,  were  unavoidably  .harassed  by  fre 
quent  requisitions,  which  excited  considerable  discontent. 

Reports  of  the  mutinous  state  of  the  American  army,  and  of  the 
dissatisfaction  of  the  people  of  Jersey,  probably  much  exaggerated, 
were  carried  to  General  Knyphausen  ;  who,  believing  the  Ameri 
can  soldiers  ready  to  desert  their  standard,  and  the  inhabitants  of 
Jersey  willing  to  abandon  the  union,  on  the  6th  of  June,  passed 
from  Staten  Island  to  Elizabethtown,  in  Jersey,  with  three  thousand 
men.  That  movement  was  intended  to  encourage  the  mutinous  dis 
position  of  the  American  troops,  and  to  fan  the  flame  of  discontent 
among  the  inhabitants  of  the  province.  Early  next  morning,  he 
marched  into  the  country  towards  Springfield  by  the  way  of  Con 
necticut  Farms,  a  flourishing  plantation,  so  named  because  the  cul 
tivators  had  come  from  Connecticut.  But  even  before  reaching 

o 

that  place,  which  is  five  or  six  miles  from  Elizabethtown,  the 
British  perceived  that  the  reports  they  had  received  concerning  the 
Americans  were  incorrect ;  for,  on  the  first  alarm,  the  militia 
assembled  with  great  alacrity,  and,  aided  by  some  small  parties 
of  regulars,  annoyed  the  British  by  an  irregular  but  galling  fire  of 
musketry,  wherever  the  nature  of  the  ground  presented  a  favour 
able  opportunity  ;  and  although  those  parties  were  nowhere  strong 
enough  to  make  a  stand,  yet  they  gave  plain  indications  of  the 
temper  and  resolution  which  were  to  be  encountered  in  advancing 
into  the  country. 

At  Connecticut  Farms  the  British  detachment  halted.  The  settlers 
were  known  to  be  zealous  in  the  American  cause,  and  therefore 
with  an  unworthy  spirit  of  revenge,  the  British,  among  whom  was 
General  Tryon,  laid  the  flourishing  village,  with  its  church  and  the 


380  LIFE    OF   WASHINGTON. 

minister's  house,  in  ashes.  Here  occurred  one  of  those  affecting 
incidents  which,  being  somewhat  out  of  the  ordinary  course  of  the 
miseries  of  war,  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  public  mind.  Mr. 
Caldwell,  minister  of  the  place,  had  withdrawn  towards  Springfield, 
but  had  left  his  wife  and  family  behind,  believing  them  to  be  in  no 
danger.  The  British  advanced  to  the  industrious  and  peaceful 
village.  Mrs.  Caldwell,  trusting  to  her  sex  for  safety,  and  unsus 
picious  of  harm,  was  sitting  in  her  house  with  her  children  around 
her,  when  a  soldier  came  up,  levelled  his  musket  at  the  window, 
and  shot  her  dead  on  the  spot  in  the  midst  of  her  terrified  infants. 
On  the  intercession  of  a  friend,  the  dead  body  was  permitted  to  be 
removed,  before  the  house  was  set  on  fire.  This  atrocious  deed 
excited  such  general  horror  and  detestation  that  the  British  thought 
proper  to  disavow  it,  and  to  impute  the  death  of  Mrs.  Caldwell  to 
a  random  shot  from  the  retreating  militia,  though  the  militia  did 
not  fire  a  musket  in  the  village.  The  wanton  murder  of  the  lady 
might  be  the  unauthorized  act  of  a  savage  individual ;  but  can  the 
burning  of  the  house  after  the  death  be  accounted  for  in  the  same 
way  ?  Knyphausen  was  a  veteran  officer,  and  cannot  be  supposed 
capable  of  entering  into  local  animosities,  or  of  countenancing  such 
brutality ;  but  Tryon  was  present,  and  his  conduct  on  other  occa 
sions  was  not  unblemished. 

After  destroying  the  Connecticut  Farms,  Knyphausen  advanced 
towards  Springfield,  where  the  Jersey  brigade  under  General  Max 
well,  and  a  large  body  of  militia,  had  taken  an  advantageous  posi 
tion,  and  seemed  resolved  to  defend  it.  General  Knyphausen, 
however,  had  met  with  a  reception  so  different  from  what  he  ex 
pected,  that  without  making  any  attempt  on  the  American  post,  he 
withdrew  during  the  night  to  Elizabethtown. 

On  being  informed  of  the  invasion  of  New  Jersey,  General  Wash 
ington  put  his  army  in  motion,  early  on  the  morning  of  the  day  in 
which  Knyphausen  inarched  from  Elizabethtown,  and  proceeded 
to  the  Short  Hills,  behind  Springfield,  while  the  British  were  in  the 
vicinity  of  that  place.  Feeble  as  his  army  was,  he  made  the  ne 
cessary  dispositions  for  fighting  ;  but  the  unexpected  retreat  of 
Knyphausen  rendered  a  battle  unnecessary.  The  British  were  fol 
lowed  by  an  American  detachment,  which  attacked  their  rear 
guard  in  the  morning,  but  were  repulsed.  Instead  of  returning  to 
New  York,  General  Knyphausen  lingered  in  the  vicinity  of  Eliza 
bethtown  and  in  Staten  Island ;  and  General  Washington,  too 
weak  to  hazard  an  engagement,  except  on  advantageous  ground, 
remained  on  the  hills  near  Springfield,  to  watch  the  movements  of 


BURNING    OF    SPRINGFIELD.  381 

the  British  army.  At  that  time,  the  army  under  the  immediate 
orders  of  General  Washington  did  not  exceed  four  thousand  effec 
tive  men. 

On  the  18th  of  June,  Sir  Henry  Clinton  returned  from  South 
Carolina,  with  about  four  thousand  men  ;  and,  after  receiving  this 
reinforcement,  the  British  force  in  New  York  and  its  dependencies 
amounted  to  twelve  thousand  effective  and  regular  troops,  most  of 
whom  could  be  brought  into  the  field  for  any  particular  service  ; 
as  besides  them,  the  British  commander  had  about  four  thousand 
militia  and  refugees  for  garrison  duty.  The  British  army  directed 
on  any  one  point  would  have  been  irresistible  ;  therefore  the  Ame 
ricans  could  only  follow  a  wary  policy,  occupying  strong  ground, 
presenting  a  bold  front,  and  concealing  their  weakness  as  far  as 
possible. 

Sir  Henry  Clinton  embarked  troops,  and  awakened  the  apprehen 
sions  of  General  Washington  lest  he  should  sail  up  the  Hudson  and 
attack  the  posts  in  the  highlands.  Those  posts  had  always  been 
objects  of  much  solicitude  with  the  American  commander,  and  he 
was  extremely  jealous  of  any  attack  upon  them.  In  order  to  be  in 
readiness  to  resist  any  such  attack,  he  left  General  Greene  at  Spring 
field,  with  seven  hundred  continentals,  the  Jersey  militia,  and  some 
cavalry,  and  proceeded  towards  Pompton  with  the  main  body  of 
the  army. 

Sir  Henry  Clinton,  after  having  perplexed  the  Americans  by  his 
movements,  early  on  the  morning  of  the  23d  of  June,  rapidly 
advanced  in  full  force  from  Elizabethtown  towards  Springfield. 
General  Greene  hastily  assembled  his  scattered  detachments,  and 
apprized  General  Washington  of  the  march  of  the  royal  army,  who 
instantly  returned  to  support  Greene's  division.  The  British 
inarched  in  two  columns  ;  one  on  the  main  road  leading  to  Spring 
field,  the  other  on  the  Vauxhall  road.  General  Greene  had  scarcely 
time  to  collect  his  troops  at  Springfield,  and  make  the  necessary 
dispositions,  when  the  royal  army  appeared  before  the  town,  and 
a  cannonade  immediately  began.  A  fordable  rivulet,  with  bridges 
corresponding  to  the  different  roads,  runs  in  front  of  this  place. 
Greene  had  stationed  parties  to  guard  the  bridges  ;  and  they 
obstinately  disputed  the  passage  ;  but  after  a  smart  conflict  they 
were  overpowered  and  compelled  to  retreat.  Greene  then  fell  back 
and  took  post  on  a  range  of  hills,  where  he  expected  to  be  again 
attacked.  But  the  British,  instead  of  attempting  to  pursue  their 
advantages,  contented  themselves  with  setting  fire  to  the  village, 
and  laying  the  greater  part  of  it  in  ashes.  Discouraged  by  the 


382  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

obstinate  resistance  they  had  received,  and  ignorant  of  the  detach 
ment  which  opposed  them,  they  immediately  retreated  to  Eliza- 
bethtown,  pursued  with  animosity  by  the  militia,  who  were  pro 
voked  at  the  burning  of  Springfield.  They^arrived  at  Elizabeth- 
town  about  sunset  ;  and,  continuing  their  inarch  to  Elizabeth 
Point,  began  at  midnight  to  pass  over  to  Staten  Island.  Before  six 
next  morning  they  had  entirely  evacuated  the  Jerseys,  and  removed 
the  bridge  of  boats  which  communicated  with  Staten  Island. 

In  the  skirmish  at  Springfield  the  Americans  had  about  twenty 
men  killed,  and  sixty  wounded.  The  British  suffered  a  corre 
sponding  loss.  Sir  Henry  Clinton's  object  in  this  expedition  seems 
to  have  been  to  destroy  the  American  magazines  in  that  part  of  the 
country.  But  the  obstinate  resistance  which  he  met  with  at  Spring 
field  deterred  him  from  advancing  into  a  district  abounding  in 
difficult  passes,  where  every  strong  position  would  be  vigorously 
defended.  He  seems  also  to  have  been  checked  by  the  apprehen 
sion  of  a  fleet  and  army  from  France. 

General  Washington  was  informed  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton's  march 
soon  after  the  British  left  Elizabethtown ;  but,  though  he  hastily 
returned,  the  skirmish  at  Springfield  was  over  before  he  reached 
that  place. 

After  Sir  Henry  Clinton  left  the  Jerseys,  General  Washington 
planned  an  enterprise  against  a  British  post  at  Bergen  Point,  on 
the  Hudson,  opposite  New  York,  garrisoned  by  seventy  loyalists. 
It  was  intended  to  reduce  the  post,  and  also  to  carry  off  a  number 
of  cattle  on  Bergen  Neck,  from  which  the  garrison  of  New  York 
received  occasional  supplies  of  fresh  provisions.  General  Wayne 
was  appointed  to  conduct  the  enterprise.  \Vith  a  respectable  force 
he  marched  against  the  post,  which  consisted  of  a  block-house 
covered  by  an  abattis  and  palisade.  General  Wayne  pointed  his 
artillery  against  the  block-house,  but  his  field-pieces  made  no  im 
pression  on  the  logs.  Galled  by  the  fire  from  the  loop-holes,  some 
of  his  men  rushed  impetuously  through  the  abattis,  and  attempted 
to  storm  the  block-house,  but  they  were  repulsed  with  considerable 
loss.  Though,  however,  the  Americans  failed  in  their  attempt 
against  the  post,  they  succeeded  in  driving  oflfmost  of  the  cattle. 

On  the  commencement  of  hostilities  in  Europe,  the  Marquis  de 
Lafayette,  who  had  so  early  and  so  zealously  embarked  in  the 
cause  of  America,  had  returned  home,  as  we  have  already  seen,  in 
order  to  offer  his  services  to  his  king,  still,  however,  retaining  his 
rank  in  the  army  of  Congress.  His  ardour  in  behalf  of  the  Ame 
ricans  remained  unabated,  and  he  exerted  all  his  influence  with 


RETURN    OF   LAFAYETTE.  383 

the  court  of  Versailles  to  gain  its  effectual  support  to  the  United 
States  :  his  efforts  were  successful,  and  the  king  of  France  resolved 
vigorously  to  assist  the  Americans  both  by  sea  and  land.  Having 
gained  this  important  point,  and  perceiving  that  there  was  no  need 
for  his  military  services  in  Europe,  he  obtained  leave  from  his 
sovereign  to  return  to  America  and  join  his  former  companions 
in  arms.  He  landed  at  Boston  towards  the  end  of  April ;  and,  in 
his  way  to  Congress,  called  at  the  head-quarters  of  General  Wash 
ington,  and  informed  him  of  the  powerful  succour  which  might 
soon  be  expected  from  France.  He  met  with  a  most  cordial  recep 
tion  both  from  Congress  and  the  commander-in-chief,  on  account 
of  his  high  rank,  tried  friendship,  and  distinguished  services. 

The  assistance  expected  from  their  powerful  ally  was  very  en 
couraging  to  the  Americans,  but  called  for  corresponding  exertions 
on  their  part.  The  commander-in-chief  found  himself  in  the  most 
perplexing  circumstances  :  his  army  was  feeble,  and  he  could  form 
no  plan  for  the  campaign  till  he  knew  what  forces  wrere  to  be  put 
under  his  orders.  His  troops,  both  officers  and  privates,  were  ill 
clothed,  and  needed  to  be  decently  appareled  before  they  could 
be  led  into  the  field  to  co-operate  with  soldiers  in  respectable 
uniforms ;  for  his  half-naked  battalions  would  only  have  been  ob 
jects  of  contempt  and  derision  to  their  better  dressed  allies.  In 
order  to  supply  these  defects,  and  to  get  his  army  in  a  due  state 
of  preparation  before  the  arrival  of  the  European  auxiliaries,  Gene 
ral  Washington  made  the  most  pressing  applications  to  Congress, 
and  to  the  several  state  legislatures.  Congress  resolved  and 
recommended ;  but  the  states  were  dilatory,  and  their  tardy  pro 
ceedings  ill  accorded  with  the  exigencies  of  the  case,  or  with  the 
expectations  of  those  who  best  understood  the  affairs  of  the  Union. 
Even  on  the  4th  of  July,  the  commander-in-chief  had  the  mortifica 
tion  to  find  that  few  new  levies  had  arrived  in  camp,  and  some  of 
the  states  had  not  even  taken  the  trouble  to  inform  him  of  the 
number  of  men  they  intended  to  furnish. 

In  the  month  of  June,  the  state  of  Massachusetts  had  resolved  to 
send  a  reinforcement,  but  no  part  of  it  had  yet  arrived.  About  the 
same  time  a  voluntary  subscription  was  entered  into  in  Philadel 
phia,  for  the  purpose  of  providing  bounties  to  recruits  to  fill  up  the 
Pennsylvania  line  ;  and  the  president  or  vice-president  in  council 
was  empowered,  if  circumstances  required  it,  to  put  the  state  under 
martial  law.  A  bank  also  was  established  for  the  purpose  of  sup 
plying  the  army  with  provisions  ;  and  a  number  of  gentlemen 
engaged  to  support  it  to  the  amount  of  one  hundred  and  eighty- 


384 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


OLD  BANK  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

nine  thousand  pounds  sterling,  according  to  the  sums  affixed  to 
their  several  names.  The  ladies  of  Philadelphia  were  ambitious 
of  sharing  the  honours  of  patriotism  with  their  fathers,  husbands, 
and  brothers ;  a  number  of  them  visited  every  house  in  the  city,  in 
order  to  collect  a  sum  of  money  to  be  presented  to  the  army,  in 
testimony  of  their  esteem  and  approbation.  The  money  was  ex 
pended  on  cloth  for  shirts,  which  the  ladies  made. 

In  the  midst  of  this  bustle  and  preparation,  the  expected  succours 
from  France,  consisting  of  a  fleet  of  eight  ships  of  the  line,  with 
frigates  and  other  vessels  under  the  Chevalier  de  Ternay,  having 
about  six  thousand  troops  on  board,  under  General  the  Count  of 
Rochambeau,  arrived  at  Rhode  Island  on  the  evening  of  the  10th 
of  July ;  and,  in  a  few  days  afterwards,  Lafayette  arrived  at  New 
port  from  the  American  head-quarters,  to  confer  with  his  coun 
trymen. 

At  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  French  in  Rhode  Island,  Admiral 
Arbuthnot  had  only  four  sail  of  the  line  at  New  York ;  but,  in  a 
few  days,  Admiral  Graves  arrived  from  England  with  six  sail  of 
the  line,  which  gave  the  British  a  decided  superiority  to  the  hostile 
squadrons,  and,  therefore,  Sir  Henry  Clinton  without  delay  pre 
pared  for  active  operations.  He  embarked  about  eight  thousand 
men,  and  sailed  with  the  fleet  to  Huntington  bay  in  Long  Island, 
with  the  intention  of  proceeding  against  the  French  at  Newport. 


TREACHERY  OF  GENERAL  ARNOLD     385 

The  militia  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  were  ordered  to  join 
their  new  allies  in  Rhode  Island,  and  the  combined  army  there 
thought  itself  able  to  give  the  British  a  good  reception. 

As  the  garrison  of  New  York  was  weakened  by  the  sailing  of  the 
armament  under  the  British  commander-in-chief ;  General  Wash 
ington,  having  received  considerable  reinforcements,  suddenly 
crossed  the  North  River,  and  advanced  towards  New  York ;  that 
movement  brought  Sir  Henry  Clinton  back  to  defend  the  place; 
and,  consequently,  Washington  proceeded  no  farther  in  his  medi 
tated  enterprise.* 

The  want  of  money  and  of  all  necessaries  still  continued  in  the 
American  camp ;  and  the  discontent  of  the  troops  gradually  in 
creasing,  was  matured  into  a  dangerous  spirit  of  insubordination. 
The  men,  indeed,  bore  incredible  hardships  and  privations  with 
unexampled  fortitude  and  patience ;  but  the  army  was  in  a  state 
of  constant  fluctuation ;  it  was  composed,  in  a  great  measure,  of 
militia,  harassed  by  perpetual  service,  and  obliged  to  neglect  the 
cultivation  of  their  farms  and  their  private  interests  in  order  to 
obey  the  calls  of  public  duty,  and  of  soldiers  on  short  enlistments, 
who  never  acquired  the  military  spirit  and  habits. 

In  consequence  of  an  appointment,  General  Washington  and 
suite  set  out  to  a  conference  with  Count  Rochambeau  and  Admiral 
Ternay,  and,  on  the  21st  of  September,  met  them  at  Hartford,  in 
Connecticut,  where  they  spent  a  few  days  together,  and  conversed 
about  a  plan  for  the  next  campaign. 

The  season  was  now  far  advanced:  no  action  of  importance 
had  been  achieved  on  the  Hudson  by  either  party,  and  the  cam 
paign  in  that  quarter  seemed  about  to  close  without  any  thing 
remarkable,  when  both  armies  were  suddenly  roused,  and  the  pub 
lic  mind  both  in  Europe  and  America  much  agitated  by  one  of 
those  affecting  events  which  deepen  the  gloom  and  give  a  melan 
choly  and  tender  interest  even  to  the  calamities  of  war — the  exe 
cution  of  Major  Andre.* 

In  the  early  part  of  the  month  of  August,  when  General  Wash 
ington  meditated  an  attack  on  New  York,  he  proposed  that  General 
Arnold  should  have  a  command  in  the  enterprise.  This  Arnold 
declined ;  alleging  that  his  lameness  disqualified  him  for  camp 
duty.  General  Washington  knew  him  to  be  a  selfish  man  ;  but, 
having  no  suspicion  of  his  infidelity  to  the  American  cause,  for 
which  he  had  professed  so  much  zeal  and  made  so  many  exertions, 
appointed  him,  at  his  own  desire,  to  the  command  of  West  Point 

*  Western  World, 

49  2K 


386  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

and  its  dependencies,  a  most  important  post  on  the  Hudson.  Of 
the  highland  posts  on  that  river,  General  Washington  was  extremely 
jealous,  and  exerted  himself  to  prevent  the  British  from  establishing 
a  communication  between  Canada  and  New  York,  by  the  Lakes 
Champlain  and  George,  and  the  river  Hudson.  West  Point  was 
considered  a  principal  key  of  that  communication ;  and,  by  the 
appointment  to  the  command  of  it,  Arnold  was  put  into  a  place  of 
high  trust  and  confidence.  But  that  officer,  impetuous  and  despe 
rate,  rather  than  cool  and  intrepid,  and  governed  more  by  the  vio 
lence  of  his  passions  than  the  dictates  of  his  understanding,  had 
secretly  determined  to  abandon  and  betray  the  American  cause  ; 
and  entered  into  negotiations  with  the  British  commander-in-chief 
for  that  purpose.  The  surrender  of  West  Point,  he  was  well  aware, 
would  gratify  his  new  friends ;  and  he  wished  to  inflict  a  deadly 
wound  on  his  old  associates,  whom  he  hated  the  more  because  he 
intended  to  betray  them.  Ambitious  and  selfish,  fond  of  ostenta 
tion  and  magnificence,  his  expenditure  had  exceeded  his  income  ; 
and,  in  order  to  supply  his  extravagance,  he  had  engaged  in  trade 
and  privateering.  His  speculations  proved  unsuccessful ;  his  funds 
were  exhausted,  and  his  creditors  became  clamorous.  About  the 
month  of  July,  1779,  he  presented  heavy  accounts  against  the  pub 
lic  ;  but  the  commissioners  rejected  about  one-half  of  his  demands; 
he  appealed  to  Congress;  but  a  committee  of  that  body  reported 
that  the  commissioners  had  allowed  him  more  than  he  had  any 
right  to  demand  or  expect.  Irritated  and  inflamed  by  this  treat 
ment,  embarrassed  in  his  circumstances,  and  encumbered  with  an 
expensive  family,  he  resolved  to  raise  a  fortune  on  the  ruins  of  his 
character,  and  to  commit  the  foulest  treason  in  order  to  gratify  at 
once  his  ambition  and  revenge. 

In  the  course  of  the  year  1779,  Major  Andre,  adjutant-general 
of  the  British  army,  a  young  officer  of  distinguished  talents  and 
acquirements,  had  entered  into  a  correspondence  with  Mrs.  Arnold, 
on  pretence  of  supplying  her  with  millinery  goods  ;  that  corre 
spondence  ripened  into  treason  on  the  part  of  Arnold.  After  his 
nomination  to  the  command  of  West  Point,  the  Vulture  sloop-of- 
war  ^as  stationed  by  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  in  the  North  River,  at 
such  a  distance  from  the  American  works  as  to  excite  no  suspicion, 
but  near  enough  to  facilitate  the  correspondence  which  was  going 
on.  Before  that  time,  there  had  been  a  written  correspondence 
through  other  channels  between  Arnold  and  Andre,  under  the 
assumed  names  of  Gustavus  and  Anderson.  In  order  to  bring  the 
negotiation  to  a  speedy  close,  Arnold  wished  Clinton  to  send  a  con- 


CAPTURE    OF    MAJOR    ANDRE.  387 

fidential  person  to  hold  a  conference  with  him  ;  unhappily,  the 
amiable  and  accomplished  Andre  was  selected  for  the  consumma 
tion  of  a  work  in  which  he  was  already  too  much  implicated. 

On  the  night  of  the  21st  of  September,  a  boat  sent  by  Arnold 
carried  Andre  from  the  Vulture,  and  landed  him  on  the  bank  of  the 
river,  where  he  met  Arnold  outside  of  the  American  posts.  The 
day  was  about  to  dawn  before  the  negotiation  was  finished  ;  and 
Andre  was  told  that  it  was  necessary  he  should  remain  concealed 
till  next  night;  for  that  purpose  he  was  conducted  within  the 
American  lines,  contrary  to  his  previous  stipulation  and  intention, 
and  without  his  knowledge.  He  spent  the  day  with  Arnold.  Next 
night  the  boatmen  refused  to  carry  him  back  to  the  Vulture,  because 
she  had  shifted  her  ground  in  order  to  be  out  of  the  reach  of  a 
cannon  which  had  been  mounted  to  annoy  her;  and  he  was  obliged 
to  attempt  an  escape  by  land.  He  now  changed  his  uniform, 
which  he  had  hitherto  worn  under  a  surtout,  for  a  common  coat ; 
and,  having  procured  a  horse,  was,  under  the  name  of  John  Ander 
son,  furnished  with  a  passport  by  Arnold  to  go  to  the  lines  at  White 
Plains,  or  lower  if  he  thought  proper,  as  he  was  on  public  business. 

Thus  equipped,  Andre  set  out  alone,  and  proceeded  on  his  jour 
ney  towards  New  York.  He  passed  the  American  guards  and 
posts  on  the  road  without  suspicion ;  but  Arnold  had  a  scouting 
party,  chiefly  militia,  scouring  the  country  between  the  outposts  of 
the  two  armies.  As  Andre  prosecuted  his  journey  the  next  day, 
and  flattered  himself  that  all  danger  was  past,  a  man  suddenly 
sprung  from  a  covert  and  seized  his  horse's  bridle.  Surprised  by 
the  unexpected  onset,  the  major  lost  his  presence  of  mind  ;  mistak 
ing  the  man  for  a  British  partisan,  instead  of  presenting  his  passport, 
he  declared  himself  a  British  officer,  and  asked  permission  to  pro 
ceed  ;  but  two  other  militia-men  coming  up  at  the  moment,  the 
party  refused  to  let  him  go,  though  he  offered  them  the  most  tempt 
ing  rewards.  They  conducted  him  to  Colonel  Jamieson,  the  offi 
cer  commanding  the  scouting  party,  before  whom  he  appeared  as 
John  Anderson  ;  choosing  rather  to  encounter  every  hazard,  than, 
by  a  disclosure  of  his  real  character,  to  involve  Arnold  in  jeopardy 
before  he  had  a  \varning  to  provide  for  his  safety.  The  names  of 
the  militia-men  who  captured  Andre  were  John  Paulding,  David 
Williams,  and  Isaac  Van  Wart. 

Andre  had  been  disconcerted,  and  his  presence  of  mind  had 
forsaken  him  on  his  sudden  and  unexpected  seizure ;  but,  more 
alive  to  Arnold's  danger  than  his  own,  he  discovered  his  ingenuity  in 
procuring  Jamieson's  permission  to  give  that  officer  notice  of  his 


388  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

apprehension.  Even  before  that  time  Jamieson  had  entertained 
suspicions  of  Arnold's  fidelity  ;  and  although  those  suspicions 
must  have  been  now  strengthened  or  confirmed,  yet  he  permitted 
a  note  to  be  sent  to  Arnold,  giving  him  notice  of  John  Anderson's 
detention. 

Several  papers  were  found  in  one  of  Major  Andre's  boots,  all  in 
Arnold's  handwriting,  which  contained  an  exact  account  of  the 
state  of  West  Point  and  its  dependencies,  with  remarks  on  the 
works,  and  estimate  of  the  number  of  men  ordinarily  on  duty  in 
the  place,  and  a  copy  of  the  state  of  matters  which  had  been  laid 
before  a  council  of  war  by  General  Washington  on  the  6th  of  the 
month.  All  these  papers  Jamieson  enclosed  under  cover  to  Gene 
ral  Washington,  with  a  letter  from  the  prisoner,  in  which  he  avowed 
himself  to  be  Major  John  Andre,  adjutant-general  of  the  British 
army,  related  the  manner  of  his  apprehension,  and  endeavoured  to 
vindicate  himself  from  the  imputation  of  being  a  spy. 

General  Washington  was  then  returning  •  from  his  conference 
with  the  French  commanders  at  Hartford ;  and  Jamieson's  messen 
ger  missed  him,  by  taking  a  different  road  from  that  in  which  he 
was  travelling. 

Arnold  received  the  notice  of  Anderson's  detention  some  hours 
before  Washington  arrived  at  West  Point ;  and  immediately  con 
sulted  his  safety,  by  hastening  on  board  the  Vulture  sloop  of  war, 
which  lay  in  the  river  some  miles  below  Verplanck's  Point. 

On  opening  the  packet  from  Jamieson  at  West  Point,  General 
Washington  discovered  Arnold's  treason,  and  took  prompt  and 
effectual  measures  for  the  security  of  the  post,  ordering  two  brigades 
from  the  nearest  division  of  the  army. 

After  allowing  time  for  the  notice  of  his  detention  to  reach 
Arnold,  Major  Andre  laid  aside  all  disguise,  and  avowed  who  he 
was.  His  behaviour  was  frank  and  ingenuous ;  and  he  seemed 
anxious  for  nothing  but  the  vindication  of  his  character  from  the 
imputations  which  the  circumstances  of  his  apprehension  appeared 
to  cast  upon  him. 

General  Washington  appointed  a  board  of  officers,  of  which 
General  Greene  was  president,  and  Lafayette,  Steuben,  and  others, 
were  members,  to  inquire  into  the  case  of  Major  Andre,  and  to 
report  in  what  character  he  was  to  be  considered,  and  what  punish 
ment  he  deserved.  Even  during  the  short  time  that  Andre  was  in 
the  power  of  the  Americans,  and  notwithstanding  the  unhappy  cir 
cumstances  in  which  he  was  placed,  his  behaviour  and  talents  made 
a  highly  favourable  impression  on  their  minds ;  and  when  brought 


EXECUTION   OF    MAJOR    ANDRE.  389 

before  the  board,  the  members  behaved  towards  him  with  the 
utmost  respect  and  delicacy,  and  told  him  not  to  answer  any  ques 
tions  that  might  embarrass  his  feelings.  But  in  that  crisis  of  his 
fate,  Andre  magnanimously  disregarded  every  thing  but  his  honour. 
He  gave  a  candid  recital  of  circumstances,  concealing  nothing  that 
regarded  himself;  but  making  no  disclosures  to  inculpate  others. 
He  acknowledged  every  thing  that  was  reckoned  essential  to  his 
condemnation ;  and  the  board  of  general  officers,  to  whom  his  case 
was  referred,  without  calling  any  witnesses,  considered  merely  that 
he  had  been  within  their  lines  in  disguise,  and  reported  that  in 
their  opinion  Major  Andre  was  a  spy,  and  ought  to  suffer  death. 
The  sentence  was  ordered  to  be  carried  into  execution  on  the  day 
after  it  was  declared.  The  apprehension  of  Major  Andre  excited 
a  lively  sensation  in  the  British  army,  which  felt  a  strong  interest 
in  his  fate  ;  for  he  was  dear  to  all  his  companions  in  arms,  and 
especially  to  the  commander-in-chief,  who  immediately,  by  a  flag 
of  truce,  opened  a  correspondence  with  General  Washington,  and 
urged  every  consideration  of  justice,  policy,  and  humanity  in  favour 
of  Andre.  Finding  his  letters  ineffectual,  he  despatched  General 
Robertson  to  confer  with  General  Washington  on  the  subject,  or 
with  any  officer  he  might  appoint.  He  was  met  by  General  Greene ; 
but  no  mitigation  of  the  doom  could  be  procured.  On  the  day 
before  his  execution,  Major  Andre  wrote  an  affecting  letter  to  Ge 
neral  Washington,  requesting  to  be  put  to  death  like  a  soldier,  and 
not  as  a  malefactor ;  but  the  board  of  general  officers,  to  whom 
every  thing  respecting  him  was  referred,  did  not  grant  his  request. 
The  2d  of  October  closed  the  tragical  scene  ;  on  that  day  the  major 
was  led  out  and  hanged,  supporting  his  high  character  to  the  last 
moment.  He  suffered  amidst  the  admirations  and  regrets  even  of 
the  American  officers  ;  while  his  death  was  deeply  lamented  by  the 
British  army.  He  was  a  young  man  of  an  amiable  character,  en 
gaging  manners,  and  fine  talents  and  acquirements.  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  made  every  effort  to  save  him,  but  his  character  as  a  spy 
was  distinctly  proved  ;  and  the  circumstance  of  his  being  an  officer 
of  high  rank,  and  a  personal  friend  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  could  not 
be  regarded  as  any  mitigation  of  his  offence,  much  less  a  reason 
for  absolving  him  from  the  penalty  which  a  spy  is  never  permitted 
to  evade  under  any  circumstances. 

Even  Arnold  had  the  effrontery  to  write  to  General  Washington, 
on  the  occasion,  attesting  such  facts  as  he  believed  favourable  to 
Andre.  But  wrhat  reliance  could  be  placed  on  the  testimony  of  a 
man  capable  of  such  foul  treason  ?  He  also  threatened  the  general, 


390  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

and  reminded  him  that  many  of  the  inhabitants  of  South  Carolina 
had  rendered  themselves  liable  to  military  execution.  It  was  im 
pudent  in  Arnold  to  write,  and  imprudent  in  Sir  Henry  Clinton  to 
transmit  his  letter ;  for  it  was  the  sure  way  to  provoke  Andre's 
fate  ;  even  although  there  had  been  an  indination  to  spare  him. 
Arnold  endeavoured  to  vindicate  his  conduct,  by  pleading  hostility 
to  the  alliance  with  France ;  and  he  attempted  to  induce  others  to 
imitate  his  example,  if  it  be  admitted  that  he  had  a  right  to 
abandon  the  American  standard ;  no  plea  can  justify  the  attempt 
to  employ  the  power  committed  to  him  for  the  ruin  of  those  who 
had  trusted  him  ;  some  of  whom,  perhaps,  had  been  encouraged 
by  his  example  and  incitement  to  take  up  arms  against  the  British 
authority.  The  name  of  Arnold  must  go  down  to  posterity,  loaded 
with  all  the  infamy  of  a  traitor  :  and  it  were  for  the  honour  of  human 
nature,  and  the  common  advantage  of  nations,  if  all  governments 
would  unite  in  manifesting  their  detestation  of  such  villanies. 

After  the  melancholy  event  now  related,  no  military  transactions 
of  much  importance  were  carried  on  in  the  north  during  the 
remainder  of  the  campaign.  On  the  21st  of  November,  indeed, 
Major  Talmadge  performed  a  brilliant  exploit  of  desultory  warfare. 
Being  informed  that  the  British  had  a  large  magazine  of  forage,  at 
Coram  on  Long  Island,  protected  by  a  small  garrison  at  Fort  St. 
George  on  South  Haven,  in  its  vicinity,  he  crossed  the  Sound 
where  it  wras  upwards  of  twenty  miles  broad  ;  and,  with  nearly 
one  hundred  men,  surprised  the  fort ;  made  the  garrison,  upwards 
of  fifty  in  number,  prisoners  ;  burnt  the  magazines  at  Coram  ; 
and,  escaping  the  British  cruisers,  recrossed  the  Sound  without 
losing  a  man.  On  the  other  hand,  Major  Carleton,  at  the  head  of 
one  thousand  men,  Europeans,  Indians,  and  loyalists,  made  a  sud 
den  irruption  into  the  northern  parts  of  the  state  of  New  York,  took 
forts  Anne  and  George,  and  made  the  garrisons  prisoners.  At  the 
same  time,  Sir  John  Johnson,  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  a  similar 
description,  appeared  on  the  Mohawk. 

On  the  approach  of  winter,  both  armies  \vent  into  winter  quarters. 
General  Washington  stationed  the  Pennsylvania  line  near  Morris- 
town  ;  the  Jersey  line,  about  Pornpton,  on  the  confines  of  New 
York  and  New  Jersey ;  the  troops  of  New  England,  in  West  Point 
and  its  vicinity,  on  both  sides  of  the  North  River ;  while  the  troops 
of  New  York  remained  at  Albany,  whither  they  had  been  sent  to 
oppose  the  invasion  of  Carleton  and  Johnson.* 
*  Western  World. 


CORNWALLIS'S   ARMY.  391 

Towards  the  close  of  the  year,  an  agreement  for  the  exchange 
of  prisoners  was  entered  into  between  Generals  Lincoln  and  Philips. 
Philips  had  been  an  American  prisoner  since  the  convention  of 
Saratoga,  and  the  former  in  the  power  of  the  British  since  the  sur 
render  of  Charleston.  Hitherto  Congress  had  shown  no  forward 
ness  to  enter  into  arrangements  for  a  general  exchange  of  prisoners. 
That  body  wras  aware  of  the  great  expense  of  recruiting  the  British 
army  from  Europe,  and  the  slender  accession  of  strength  which, 
owing  to  short  enlistments,  their  own  military  force  would  derive 
from  a  release  of  prisoners.  They  considered  a  general  exchange 
unfavourable  to  their  cause  ;  but  many  of  the  regular  troops  had 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  British,  by  the  capitulation  of  Charles 
ton,  and  the  defeat  of  Gates  at  Camden.  The  complaints  of  the 
prisoners  and  of  their  friends  were  loud  ;  and  for  that  reason  Con 
gress  found  it  expedient  to  agree  to  a  general  exchange  ;  but  the 
convention  troops  of  Saratoga  were  detained  prisoners  till  the  end 
of  the  wrar. 

We  must  now  fulfil  our  promise  to  take  a  rapid  view  of  those 
movements  in  the  south  which  led  to  Lord  Cornwallis's  invasion 
of  Virginia.  That  officer,  it  will  be  recollected,  wras  left  in  com 
mand  of  the  British  army  in  the  south,  when  General  Clinton  re 
turned  to  New  York  (June  5th.)  His  force  was  four  thousand 
men  ;  his  position  the  borders  of  North  and  South  Carolina ;  his 
object  the  complete  subjection  of  the  southern  states,  which  he 
considered  a  natural  consequence  of  the  fall  of  Savannah  and 
Charleston. 

Active  hostilities  were  recommenced  on  July  12th,  two  months 
after  the  fall  of  Charleston,  wrhen  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  of 
Colonel  Sumpter's  corps  routed  a  detachment  of  royal  forces  and 
militia  at  Williamson's  plantation.  In  consequence  of  this  first 
advantage  over  the  British  since  their  landing,  the  inhabitants  of 
South  Carolina  flocked  to  the  American  standard  in  such  numbers, 
as  in  a  few  days  to  swell  Sumpter's  force  to  six  hundred  men. 
With  these,  he  attacked  a  party  of  British  at  Rocky  Mount ;  but 
being  destitute  of  artillery,  and  the  enemy  well  defended  by  their 
works,  he  was  obliged  to  retreat.  Sensible  of  the  influence  which 
action  and  excitement  have  upon  militia,  he  fell  upon  another  party, 
consisting  of  the  Prince  of  Wales's  regiment  and  some  Tories.  The 
British  force  was  reduced  from  two  hundred  and  seventy- three  to 
nine,  and  the  royalists  dispersed. 


392  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

UT  while  the  southern  people  were  gratified  by 
these  desultory  victories,  and  by  the  news  that  a 
respectable  continental  force  was  marching  to 
their  assistance,  difficulties  arose  from  another 
source.  The  necessary  supplies  for  the  army 
were  so  long  delayed  that  fears  began  to  be  en 
tertained  of  their  complete  failure.  This  arose 
from  the  refusal  of  the  manufacturers  to  deliver  their  articles  with 
out  immediate  payment.  At  length,  after  great  exertions  the  Mary 
land  and  Delaware  troops  were  enabled  to  move.  Under  the  com 
mand  of  the  Baron  de  Kalb,  they  marched  through  Pennsylvania 
and  Jersey,  embarked  at  the  head  of  Elk,  April  16th,  landed  at 
Petersburg,  and  thence  proceeded  toward  South  Carolina.  Before 
commencing  this  last  part  of  the  route,  the  command  was  trans 
ferred  to  Major-general  Gates,  who,  in  consequence  of  his  brilliant 
success  in  the  north,  had  been  selected  by  Congress  to  conduct  the 
southern  war.  On  assuming  the  command,  this  officer  altered  the 
baron's  plan  of  a  circuitous  route,  and  decided  upon  taking  the 
shortest  road  to  Camden.  This  led  through  an  open  pine  barren  ; 
and  in  their  march  the  army  were  obliged  to  suffer  under  a  burn 
ing  sun,  want  of  water  and  provisions,  and  the  ravages  of  a  wast 
ing  disease.  Although  there  was,  at  first,  some  murmuring,  and 
even  indications  of  mutiny,  yet,  in  general,  the  soldiers  bore  their 
sufferings  patiently.  On  the  13th  of  August,  they  reached  Cler- 
mont,  thirteen  miles  from  Camden,  and  were  next  day  joined  by  a 
body  of  Virginia  militia  under  General  Stephens. 

The  first  operation  of  General  Gates  was  to  publish  a  proclama 
tion,  inviting  all  citizens  of  the  south  to  join  the  standard  of  their 
country,  and  promising  forgiveness  to  those  who,  under  the  pres 
sure  of  adverse  circumstances,  had  united  their  arms  with  the  Bri 
tish.  This  proclamation  had  considerable  effect.  The  people  had 
been  insulted  and  ground  down  by  a  ruthless  conqueror ;  and 
although  prior  to  the  arrival  of  the  American  army  they  had  been 
to  a  great  degree  dormant,  yet  it  was  merely  for  want  of  an  oppor 
tunity  to  display  their  real  disposition.  That  opportunity  they 
now  improved. 

On  the  approach  of  Gates,  Lord  Cornwallis  hastened  from  Charles 
ton  to  Camden,  which  he  reached  on  the  14th.  He  found  there  a 
force  of  seventeen  hundred  infantry  and  three  hundred  cavalry. 
That  of  his  adversary,  including  militia,  was  nearly  four  thousand 
men  ;  but  the  regular  force  numbered  only  nine  hundred  infantry 
and  seventy  cavalry.  Notwithstanding  this  disparity  in  numbers. 


BATTLE    OF    CAMDEN.  393 

Cornwallis  determined  to  give  battle,  and  on  the  night  of  the  15th 
marched  from  Camden  with  his  whole  force.  The  same  night, 
Gates  also  left  his  camp,  for  the  purpose  of  occupying  a  favourable 
position  about  eight  miles  from  Camden.  On  the  route,  the  advanced 
cavalry  of  Colonel  Arnaud,  flanked  by  light  infantry,  encountered 
the  advance  guard  of  the  British,  and  a  skirmish  ensued  in  the 
early  part  of  which  the  Maryland  regiment  was  broken,  and  the 
whole  line  thrown  into  confusion.  The  Americans,  however,  ral 
lied,  and  both  armies  continued  to  skirmish  through  the  night.  In 
this  affair,  Colonel  Potterfield,  commander  of  the  light  infantry  and 
a  very  able  officer,  was  wounded. 

The  general  engagement  was  reserved  for  the  next  morning.  At 
the  first  onset  the  American  left  wing,  composed  of  Virginia  militia, 
throwing  down  their  arms,  fled,  and  were  followed  by  a  part  of 
those  from  North  Carolina.  The  whole  battle  was  now  directed 
against  the  continental  troops,  who,  notwithstanding  the  unworthy 
example  of  their  comrades,  coolly  maintained  their  ground,  and  at 
one  time  had  actually  secured  a  number  of  prisoners. 

On  that  disastrous  day,  the  Americans  lost  the  finest  army  ever 
concentrated  in  the  Southern  States.  The  enemy  captured  two 
hundred  and  ninety  prisoners,  only  eighty-six  of  whom  were  militia, 
all  the  artillery,  consisting  of  eight  field-pieces,  more  than  two 
hundred  wagons,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  baggage.  Every 
American  corps  was  broken  and  dispersed,  and  every  officer  sepa 
rated  from  his  command.  The  Baron  de  Kalb,  while  bravely 
fighting  at  the  head  of  his  command,  was  wounded  and  taken  pri 
soner  into  Camden,  where  he  next  day  died. 

The  loss  of  the  royal  army  was  also  severe ;  and  they  owed  the 
completeness  of  their  victory  solely  to  the  cowardice  of  the  militia, 
and  to  their  own  superiority  in  cavalry. 

The  defeat  of  Gates  \vas  followed  by  that  of  Sumpter,  whose 
troops,  being  attacked  by  Colonel  Tarleton,  lost  all  their  artillery, 
and  a  number  of  recently  captured  prisoners,  and  were  themselves 
either  killed,  captured,  or  dispersed. 

Toward  the  end  of  August,  the  wretched  remains  of  the  American 
army  commenced  their  retreat  towards  Salisbury.  That  retreat 
was  one  of  complicated  sufferings.  The  wounded  were  too  nume 
rous  to  be  carried.  Even  those  who  had  escaped  the  sword  were 
drooping  with  sickness ;  pain,  anxiety,  hurry,  and  confusion, 
brooded  over  their  gloomy  journey.  Soon  after  their  arrival  at 
Salisbury,  General  Gates  went  to  Hillsborough  to  devise  plansa  iu 
50 


394  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

concert  with  the  North  Carolina  authorities,  for  the  renewal  of 
operations. 

Though  the  victory  at  Camden  had  given  Lord  Cornwallis  com 
plete  ascendency  over  the  south,  yet,  from  tjie  heat  of  the  season 
and  the  sickness  of  his  troops,  he  was  restrained  from  improving 
it  by  active  hostilities.  Determined,  however,  to  punish  the  teme 
rity  and  rebellion  of  those  who  had  resisted  the  royal  forces,  he 
issued  orders  "(hat  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  province  who  had 
submitted,  and  who  had  taken  part  in  this  revolt,  should  be  pun 
ished  with  the  greatest  rigour  ;  that  they  should  be  imprisoned, 
and  their  whole  property  taken  from  them  or  destroyed,"  and  that 
"  every  militia-man  who  had  borne  arms  with  the  British,  and  after 
wards  joined  the  Americans,  should  be  put  to  death."  These  were 
the  results  of  the  favourite  theory  of  his  lordship,  that  his  contest 
was  not  with  an  independent  nation,  but  with  outlaws  and  rebels. 

Notwithstanding  the  execution  of  several,  under  these  orders, 
together  with  a  large  confiscation  of  property,  many  most  respect 
able  citizens  resisted  every  temptation  to  resume  the  character  of 
British  subjects.  They  were  consequently  deprived  of  their  homes 
and  property,  and  shipped  to  St.  Augustine.  General  Moultrie 
remonstrated  against  their  removal,  as  contrary  to  the  terms  of  the 
capitulation  of  Charleston  ;  but  his  remonstrance  was  disregarded. 

Thus,  the  cause  of  southern  freedom  had  become  one  of  poverty, 
exile,  and  ruin.  But  though  numbers  forfeited  their  patriotism, 
there  were  some  illustrious  characters,  whom  losses  could  not  dis 
hearten,  threats  intimidate,  nor  suffering1  change.  To  make  their 
country  happy,  they  sacrificed  their  own  happiness ;  to  redeem  her 
from  poverty,  they  themselves  became  poor ;  and  cheerfully  em 
braced  chains  and  exile,  that  their  example  might  assist  in  the 
emancipation  of  America. 

Even  the  ladies  became  martyrs.  They  visited  the  prison-ships 
in  order  to  solace  the  suffering  captives.  At  the  evening  assem 
blies,  the  gay  conqueror  was  passed  by  unheeded  ;  but  the  American 
officer,  though  a  prisoner,  was  loaded  with  marks  of  attention  and 
respect ;  and  when,  in  the  progress  of  the  war,  they,  as  well  as 
their  husbands  and  brothers,  were  commanded  from  their  native 
country,  they  cheerfully  followed  them  even  to  distant  regions. 

The  success  of  Lord  Cornwallis  once  more  inspired  the  British 
ministry  with  the  hope  of  subjugating  America.  That  body  confi 
dently  asserted  that  such  troops  as  fought  at  Camden,  conducted 
by  the  same  general,  would  soon  extirpate  rebellion  so  effectually 
as  to  leave  no  vestige  of  it  in  America.  But  a  second  Saratoga 


BATTLE    OF    KING'S    MOUNTAIN. 


395 


was  soon  to  deliver  them 
from  this  fond  error,  by  the 
defeat  and  surrender  of 
those  very  troops. 

The  severities  of  the 
British  toward  defenceless 
citizens,  instead  of  attain 
ing  the  desired  end,  after 
some  time  began  to  foster 
a  spirit  of  hatred  and  re 
venge.  Those  who  had 
been  deprived  of  their 
homes  fled  into  the  inte 
rior  and  united  themselves 
with  Marion,  Pickens,  and 
Sumpter,  who,  subsequently  to  the  defeat  of  Gates,  had  been  ele 
vated,  -by  Governor  Rutledge,  to  the  rank  of  brigadier-generals. 
The  parties  thus  formed,  though  entirely  destitute  of  artillery,  and 
often  of  provisions  and  small  arms,  tended  by  their  presence  to 
keep  alive  a  feeling  of  opposition  in  American  bosoms.  From  their 
retreats  in  forests  and  deep  swamps,  they  sallied  out  as  often  as 
opportunity  presented,  and  besides  sometimes  obtaining  slight 
advantages,  they  continually  annoyed  the  enemy. 

With  a  view  to  destroy  these  partisans,  as  well  as  to  render  their 
authority  more  congenial  to  the  inhabitants,  the  British  had  long 
been  endeavouring  to  form  the  Carolinians  into  a  royal  militia. 
Major  Ferguson,  of  the  71st  regiment,  having  by  very  active  exer 
tion  raised  such  a  corps,  advanced  toward  North  Carolina,  in  order 
that  his  presence  might  there  promote  the  royal  cause.  Upon 
approaching  Augusta,  he  learned  that  a  Colonel  Clark  had  re 
cently  made  an  unsuccessful  attack  upon  that  place,  and  resolving 
to  intercept  his  retreat,  he  took  up  a  position  on  King's  Mountain. 
Here  he  was  attacked  on  the  7th  of  October,  by  about  a  thousand 
republicans,  who  had  formed  themselves  into  three  parties,  and 
advanced  alternately  to  the  charge.  The  British  fought  principally 
with  the  bayonet,  and  overthrew  each  division  of  their  opponents 
as  it  presented  itself.  But  instead  of  fleeing,  the  discomfited 
Americans  either  retired  to  a  short  distance,  rallied,  and  renewed 
their  charge,  or  entered  the  surrounding  thickets,  from  whence  they 
poured  forth  a  most  galling  fire. 

Ferguson,  after  displaying  the  greatest  bravery,  received  a  mor 
tal  wound.  Two  hundred  and  twenty-five  of  his  men  were  killed 


396  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

or  wounded,  and  the  remainder,  amounting  to  eight  hundred, 
obliged  to  surrender.  The  assailants  lost  but  few ;  yet  among 
these  was  the  brave  Colonel  Williams,  a  militia  officer  who  had  been 
very  active  in  opposing  the  re-establishment  of  British  authority. 

The  army  thus  signally  successful  was  of  the  most  heterogeneous 
nature.  They  had  not  collected  in  obedience  to  superior  orders, 
but  from  a  spontaneous  desire  to  resist  their  oppressors.  Among 
their  number,  were  Colonel  Campbell  of  Virginia,  Colonels  Cleve 
land,  Shelby,  Sevier,  and  McDowell  of  North  Carolina,  and  Colo 
nels  Lacey,  Hawthorn,  and  Hill,  of  South  Carolina.  These,  by 
common  consent,  commanded  each  day  alternately.  Their  harc^ 
ships  were  equal  to  their  patriotism.  Some  of  them  subsisted  for 
weeks  without  tasting  bread,  salt,  or  spirituous  liquors.  At  night 
the  earth  was  their  bed  and  the  trees  their  covering.  Such  was 
the  fare  of  the  heroes  of  King's  Mountain. 

Ferguson  was  a  most  able  officer,  possessing  an  uncommon 
spirit  of  enterprise  and  distinguished  talents  as  a  partisan.  His 
unexpected  defeat  filled  the  Americans  with  exultation,  and  pro- 
portionably  damped  the  spirit  of  the  Tories. 

Soon  after  the  battle  of  King's  Mountain,  Cornwallis  left  Camden 
with  his  main  army  and  moved  toward  Salisbury.  On  the  way  he 
met  with  many  confirmations  of  the  fact  that  South  Carolina  was 
not  conquered.  Groups  of  riflemen  hung  upon  his  march,  annoy 
ing  him  so  perseveringly  that  it  became  hazardous  for  his  com 
panies  to  leave  the  main  body.  Together  with  the  Ferguson  catas 
trophe,  this  convinced  him  that  much  of  the  labour  which  he  had 
supposed  to  be  accomplished,  was  yet  to  be  encountered.  Under 
these  circumstances,  his  lordship  abandoned  the  design  of  pene 
trating  into  North  Carolina,  and  retreated  to  Hillsborough. 

Meanwhile  Sumpter  had  collected  a  respectable  force,  with  which 
he  so  harassed  the  British  parties,  that  intercourse  between  their 
different  posts  could  be  effected  only  with  caution  and  difficulty. 
He  was  in  consequence  attacked  on  November  12th,  at  Broad 
River,  by  Major  Wemyss,  but  defeated  the  British  and  captured  their 
commander.  Eight  days  after  he  had  a  second  battle  with  Lieuten 
ant-colonel  Tarleton,  at  Black  Stocks,  near  Tyger  River.  The 
enemy  charged  with  one  hundred  and  seventy  dragoons  and  eighty 
men  ;  but  Sumpter,  having  thrown  his  force  into  a  large  log  barn, 
met  the  charge  with  firmness,  and  Tarleton  was  obliged  to  retreat, 
with  the  loss  of  three  officers  and  a  considerable  number  of  men. 
In  this  affair  General  Sumpter  was  wounded. 

While  these  events  were  transpiring,  General  Gates  had  been 


CLOSE    OF    THE    CAMPAIGN.  397 

endeavouring  to  raise  a  force  sufficient  to  enable  him  again  to  take 
the  field,  and  retrieve  the  consequences  of  his  former  defeat.  This, 
however,  he  was  not  permitted  to  accomplish.  Public  opinion 
loudly  condemned  his  conduct  at  Camden  ;  and  Congress,  obeying 
its  influence,  resolved  to  supersede  him,  and  submit  his  case  to  a 
court  of  inquiry.  This  was  pursuant  to  a  former  resolve,  that  who 
ever  lost  a  post  should  be  subjected  to  such  examination.  On  his 
way  home  the  feelings  of  the  unfortunate  general  were  soothed  by 
a  testimonial  from  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses,  assuring  him 
ihat  "the  remembrance  of  former  glorious  services  could  not  be 
obliterated  by  any  reverse  of  fortune,  and  that  they  would  omit  no 
opportunity  of  testifying  to  the  world  the  gratitude  which  the 
country  owred  to  him  in  his  military  character." 

Thus  closed  the  southern  campaign  of  1780.  Though  British 
conquests  had  rapidly  succeeded  each  other,  yet  no  advantages 
accrued  to  the  victors.  Such  was  the  disposition  of  the  people, 
that  the  expense  of  retaining  them  in  subjection  exceeded  the  profits 
of  their  conquest.  British  garrisons  kept  down  open  resistance  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  places  where  they  were  established  ;  but  as  soon 
as  they  were  withdrawn,  and  the  people  left  to  themselves,  a  spirit 
of  revolt  always  displayed  itself,  and  the  standard  of  independence 
never  wanted  the  active  and  spirited  partisan  to  defend  it. 


G  E  3  ER  A.  L     GATES. 


2L 


398 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


of  UTOl* 


OTHING  now  seemed  to  interfere  with 
the  British  projects  of  conquest  in  the 
south ;  their  general  good  fortune  since 
the  reduction  of  Savannah  and  Charles 
ton  caused  them  to  plan  an  invasion 
of  North  Carolina,  as  the  business  of 
the  winter  following  Gates's  defeat. 
Every  circumstance  seemed  to  favour 
the  project.  The  Southern  army  was 
too  weak  to  take  the  field,  nor  had 

Congress  or  the  northern  forces  the  means  of  strengthening  it ;  and 
even  could  Washington  have  spared  part  of  his  troops,  the  time 


OPERATIONS  OF  GENERAL  GREENE.     399 

necessary  to  transport  them  seven  hundred  miles  would  have  been 
amply  sufficient  to  enable  the  enemy  to  execute  their  plans,  and 
thus  frustrate  the  object  of  their  arrival.  All  therefore  that  Congress 
could  do,  was  to  appoint  a  general  to  supersede  General  Gates. 
At  the  earnest  recommendation  of  Washington,  they  elected  Gene 
ral  Greene,  who  was  soon  to  prove  that  the  confidence  of  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  was  not  misapplied. 

Upon  the  reception  of  his  commission,  Greene  immediately  pro 
ceeded  to  Charlottestown,  where  General  Gates  had  concentrated 
the  remnant  of  his  forces.  He  there  received  the  transfer  of  that 
general's  authority,  and  entered  upon  his  official  duties. 

The  same  day  the  army  received  news  of  the  success  of  Lieu 
tenant-colonel  Washington,  in  an  attack  on  Clermont,  eighteen 
miles  from  Camden,  and  station  of  Lieutenant-colonel  Rugely  of 
the  British  militia.  The  plan  of  attack  was  somewhat  novel. 
Having  no  artillery,  the  colonel  planted  the  trunk  of  a  pine  tree  so 
that  it  resembled  a  field-piece,  and  parading  it  in  front  of  a  block 
house,  in  which  were  the  enemy,  peremptorily  demanded  a  sur 
render.  The  ruse  succeeded,  and  without  firing  a  gun  one  hun 
dred  men,  defended  by  a  guard-house  and  abbatis,  became  pri 
soners. 

Upon  assuming  the  southern  command,  Greene  found  himself 
encompassed  with  difficulties.  The  late  disasters  had  been  no  less 
fatal  to  the  subordination  than  to  the  success  of  the  American 
arms.  The  regulars  were  without  pay,  and  often  wanted  proper 
clothing  and  provisions ;  while  the  continental  currency,  their  only 
money,  was  so  depreciated  as  to  be  no  longer  an  article  of  exchange. 
Beside  these  difficulties,  the  sufferers  from  exile  and  loss  of  pro 
perty  were  clamorous  for  immediate  action,  and  the  militia, 
though  generally  so  inefficient  when  in  battle,  were  still  more  so 
while  idle.  In  a  word,  at  the  head  of  two  thousand  defeated  men, 
one-half  of  whom  were  raw  militia,  he  was  to  oppose  a  superior 
force  of  the  best  troops  on  the  western  continent.  His  first  care 
was  to  enforce  discipline  ;  and  he  effected  it,  by  promptly  executing 
a  few  of  the  glaringly  mutinous.  To  raise  necessaries  for  the  army, 
he  was  obliged  to  resort  to  impressment;  and  this  he  conducted  in 
so  delicate  a  manner  as  to  effect  his  object  without  alienating  the 
affections  of  the  inhabitants.  With  regard  to  his  operations,  after 
mature  deliberation  had  manifested  the  folly  of  an  attempt  at  im 
mediate  open  warfare,  he  determined  to  harass  the  enemy  in  detail, 
until  the  successes  of  a  partisan  struggle  would  swell  the  number 
of  his  army  so  as  to  enable  him  to  risk  a  pitched  battle. 


400  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

Soon  after  the  adoption  of  this  plan,  he  sent  General  Morgan, 
with  a  respectable  detachment,  to  the  western  part  of  South  Caro 
lina,  and  marched  with  the  main  body  of  his  army  to  Hick's  Creek, 
on  the  north  bank  of  the  Pedee. 

Morgan  was  joined  by  a  considerable  number  of  militia,  who, 
since  the  establishment  of  the  British  at  Ninety-Six,  had  been 
ground  down  with  cruel  oppression,  and  were  now  burning  for 
revenge. 

As  soon  as  the  intelligence  of  this  movement  reached  Lord  Corn- 
wallis,  he  despatched  Colonel  Tarleton,  with  eleven  hundred  men 
and  two  field-pieces,  to  "push  the  Americans  to  the  utmost." 
Tarleton  advanced  with  celerity,  confident  that  his  superiority,  both 
in  cavalry  and  infantry,  together  with  the  undisciplined  condition 
of  his  opponents,  would  secure  an  easy  victory. 

The  engagement  took  place  on  the  17th  of  January  at  the  Cow- 
pens.  The  Americans  formed  two  lines ;  the  first  composed  of 
one  hundred  and  ninety  North  Carolina  militia,  under  Colonel 
Pickens ;  and  the  second,  of  light  infantry  and  a  corps  of  Virginia 
riflemen.  These  were  some  hundred  yards  behind  the  others  ;  and 
in  the  rear  of  both  was  the  cavalry  of  Lieutenant-colonel  Washing 
ton  with  about  forty-five  mounted  militia.  Though  the  British 
were  exhausted  with  fatigue,  Tarleton  immediately  ordered  a 
charge,  which  he  conducted  in  person.  The  first  line,  after  some 
resistance,  was  broken,  and  the  second  shared  a  similar  fate. 
Tarleton  had  begun  to  cut  down  the  militia,  when  he  was  stopped 
by  an  unexpected  charge  of  Colonel  Washington,  which  was 
almost  immediately  seconded  by  one  from  Howard,  with  fixed 
bayonets.  The  militia,  elated  with  this  success,  rushed  on  in  great 
numbers,  driving  back  the  British  advance-guard,  and  seizing  their 
artillery.  Amid  the  wild  confusion  of  these  simultaneous  victories, 
Howard  called  to  the  enemy  to  surrender.  The  greater  part 
obeyed,  and  of  all  Tarleton's  army  but  one  small  party  escaped, 
to  carry  the  news  to  Cornwallis.  Morgan's  loss  was  twelve  killed 
and  sixty  wounded ;  while  that  of  the  British  was  three  hundred 
killed  and  wounded,  five  hundred  prisoners,  eight  hundred  must 
kets,  one  hundred  dragoon  horses,  thirty-five  baggage-wagons,  and 
two  field-pieces. 

For  their  conduct  in  this  brilliant  affair,  the  officers  received  tes 
timonials  from  Congress ;  and  the  whole  army  the  thanks  of  that 
body.  In  its  consequences,  it  was  one  of  the  most  important 
actions  of  the  Revolution  ;  and  the  circumstances  under  which  it 
was  fought,  challenge  our  utmost  astonishment  at  its  success. 


BATTLE   OF   COWPENS.  401 

The  news  of  this  misfortune,  though  it  mortified,  did  not  dis 
courage  Cornwallis.  He  determined,  by  a  vigorous  movement  to  the 
South,  to  nullify  the  impressions  of  defeat,  and  intercept  Morgan, 
who,  with  his  prisoners,  was  proceeding  to  Virginia.  Notified  of 
these  movements.  General  Greene,  after  marching  from  Hick's 
Creek,  left  his  army  with  General  Huger,  and  rode  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles,  to  join  Morgan,  that  he  might  be  in  front  of  Corn 
wallis,  and  make  the  junction  of  his  two  commands  more  easy. 
Immediately  on  his  arrival,  he  ordered  the  prisoners  to  Charlotte- 
ville,  and  his  troops  to  Guilford  court-house,  to  which  place  Gene 
ral  Huger  had  been  directed  to  proceed. 

In  their  retreat,  the  Americans  underwent  almost  incredible 
hardships.  Besides  being  exhausted  by  fatigue  and  hunger,  they 
were  obliged  to  march  bare-foot  over  the  frozen  ground,  and  often 
to  ford  deep  creeks,  yet  far  from  murmuring,  they  submitted  to  all 
this,  cheerfully.  The  royal  army  fared  little  better  than  their 
adversaries  ;  for  being  obliged  to  destroy  their  baggage,  in  order  to 
facilitate  their  progress,  they  encountered  many  privations  hitherto 
almost  unknown. 

So  active  were  the  movements  of  the  British  general,  that  he 
reached  the  Catawba  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day  that  the 
Americans  had  crossed  it.  Here  his  progress  was  for  a  while  ar 
rested  by  a  heavy  rain,  which  rendered  the  river  impassable.  When 
the  freshet  subsided,  the  enemy  crossed  by  wading,  and  having 
dispersed  a  small  company  of  militia  who  had  opposed  them, 
pushed  forward,  in  hopes  of  overtaking  Morgan  before  he  could  cross 
the  Yadkin.  They  were  again  disappointed.  The  elements  again 
favoured  the  Americans,  and  the  British  were  again  detained  by 
the  swelling  of  the  river.  These  hair-breadth  escapes  were  consi 
dered  by  the  Americans  as  proof  that  their  cause  was  favoured  by 
Heaven,  and  impressed  religious  people  with  such  sentiments  as 
added  fresh  vigour  to  their  exertions. 

Cornwallis  now  marched  to  the  upper  fords  of  the  Yadkin,  but 
before  he  could  cross,  Greene  had  united  his  forces  at  Guilford 
court-house.  Even  now  his  numbers  were  so  inferior  to  that  of  his 
antagonist,  that  a  council  of  officers  unanimously  agreed  that  he 
ought  to  retire  over  the  Dan,  and  by  no  means  risk  an  engage 
ment.  Apprized  of  this,  his  lordship  determined  to  keep  the  upper 
country,  where  the  streams  were  fordable,  so  that  his  opponent  being 
unable  to  cross  below,  and  having  his  supplies  and  reinforcements 
intercepted,  would  be  obliged  to  give  battle  under  many  disadvan 
tages.  In  this  expectation  he  was  deceived ;  Greene,  by  good 
51  2  L  2 


402  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

management,  eluded  the  snare.  By  the  most  indefatigable  exer 
tions  he  transported  his  army  artillery  and  baggage  over  the  Dan 
into  Virginia  ;  yet,  with  so  narrow  an  escape  that  the  van  of  the 
British  arrived  just  as  the  rear  of  the  Americans  had  crossed.  To 
the  royal  army  this  escape  appeared  almost  incredible  ;  and  their 
mortification  must  have  been  unbounded.  They  had  cheerfully 
submitted  to  fatigue,  starvation,  and  every  other  hardship  ;  and 
when  their  object  seemed  within  grasp,  their  hopes  were  destined 
to  a  bitter  disappointment. 

Cornwallis,  however,  consoled  himself  by  the  reflection  that  he 
could  improve  the  opportunity  offered  by  the  absence  of  the  Ameri 
cans  in  assembling  the  royalists  and  establishing  a  constitutional 
government.  He  therefore  published  a  proclamation  to  that  effect, 
and  afterwards  erected  the  king's  standard  at  Hillsborough.  The 
experiment  was,  however,  attended  with  so  little  success  that  he 
found  it  necessary  to  despatch  Tarleton,  with  four  hundred  and 
fifty  men,  to  the  Deep  River,  in  order  to  incite  a  loyal  spirit  among 
the  inhabitants  of  that  region.  Hearing  of  this  movement,  and 
apprehensive  that  the  absence  of  the  American  army  would  be  fatal 
to  their  cause  in  the  south,  Greene  determined  to  re-enter  North 
Carolina  at  all  hazards.  Accordingly,  he  crossed  the  Dan,  and 
immediately  dismissed  General  Pickens  and  Lieutenant-colonel 
Lee,  in  pursuit  of  Tarleton.  On  their  way  they  met  with  a  body  of 
three  hundred  and  fifty  Tories,  who  mistook  the  Americans  for  Bri 
tish,  and  were  cut  down  while  making  protestations  of  their  loyalty. 
Tarleton  was  about  a  mile  from  this  scene  of  slaughter,  and  upon 
hearing  the  alarm,  crossed  the  Haw  River,  and  returned  to  Hills- 
borough.  On  his  retreat,  he  killed  several  of  the  royalists  who 
were  on  their  way  to  join  the  British,  and  whom  he  mistook  for 
American  militia. 

These  movements  of  General  Greene  entirely  disconcerted  the 
plans  of  Cornwallis,  and  so  damped  the  spirit  of  the  Tories,  that 
they  left  him  in  large  numbers. 

Though  the  American  commander  had  resumed  the  field,  he  did 
not  wish  to  risk  a  general  action,  but  to  keep  alive  the  courage  of 
his  army  by  harassing  the  foragers  and  detachments  of  the  enemy. 
So  artful  were  his  movements,  that  for  seven  days  he  lay  within  ten 
miles  of  the  hostile  camp  ;  changing  his  position  every  night,  and 
keeping  it  a  profound  secret  where  the  next  one  would  be.  At  the 
end  of  three  weeks,  he  was  joined  by  two  brigades  of  militia  from 
North  Carolina,  one  from  Virginia,  and  four  hundred  regulars. 
Having  now  a  superiority  in  numbers,  he  gave  battle  on  the  15th 


BATTLE    OF    GUILFORD    COURT-HOUSE.       403 

of  March  at  Guilford  Court-house.  His  army  consisted  of  four 
thousand  four  hundred  men,  more  than  one  half  of  which  were 
militia  ;  that  of  Cornwallis,  two  thousand  four  hundred,  chiefly 
veteran  troops.  The  former  were  drawn  up  in  three  lines  ;  the 
front,  composed  of  North  Carolina  militia,  the  second  of  Virginia 
militia,  the  third  of  continentals  under  General  Huger,  and  Colonel 
Williams.  The  British  advanced  in  three  columns ;  the  Hessians 
on  the  right,  the  guards  in  the  centre,  and  Lieutenant-colonel  Web 
ster's  brigade  on  the  left.  The  American  front  gave  way  almost  as 
soon  as  attacked,  in  consequence  of  the  indiscretion  of  a  colonel, 
who  called  out  to  an  officer  that  he  would  be  surrounded.  The 
Virginia  militia  maintained  their  ground  with  great  spirit,  but  were 
also  obliged  to  retreat.  The  continental  troops  were  last  engaged, 
and  fought  bravely  for  an  hour  and  a  half;  but  the  discipline  of 
veterans  gained  the  day.  They  broke  the  second  Maryland  bri 
gade,  turned  the  left  flank,  and  were  endeavouring  to  encircle  the 
American  regulars.  A  retreat  therefore  became  indispensable.  It 
was  ably  conducted  by  Greene,  who  retired  but  three  miles. 

In  this  battle  the  Americans  lost  about  four  hundred  killed  and 
wounded ;  among  the  latter  were  Generals  Huger  and  Stephens. 
The  loss  of  the  British  was  severe.  Besides  several  hundred  pri 
vates,  Colonel  Webster,  an  able  and  much  beloved  officer,  Colonel 
Stuart,  and  three  captains  were  killed ;  and  Generals  O'Hara  and 
Howard,  and  Colonel  Tarleton  wounded. 

Though  Cornwallis  had  gained  a  victory,  he  was  in  no  condition 
to  improve  it.  The  long-sought  interview  with  his  adversary  ill 
repaid  the  toil  and  anxiety  which  he  had  expended  to  accomplish 
it.  So  effectually  had  it  crippled  his  abilities,  that  on  the  19th, 
he  broke  up  his  camp  and  retreated  towards  Wilmington.  Greene 
having  re-collected  his  forces,  and  provided  for  the  wounded  of 
both  armies,  immediately  pursued  as  far  as  Ramsey's  Mill,  on  the 
Deep  River.  From  Wilmington  his  lordship  marched  towards 
Virginia ;  but  instead  of  pursuing  him,  Greene  formed  the  bold 
design  of  returning  to  South  Carolina.  Hazardous  as  was  this 
attempt,  circumstances  afterwards  proved  that  it  was  the  very  best 
one  which  could  have  been  devised,  as  well  as  demonstrated  the 
sagacity  of  the  man  who  planned  and  executed  it.  . 

Before  Greene  commenced  his  march,  he  sent  orders  to  General 
Pickens,  to  prevent  supplies  from  going  to  the  British  garrisons  at 
Augusta  and  Ninety-Six,  and  soon  after  proceeded  towards  the  latter 
station.  No  sooner  was  his  approach  known  than  the  friends  of  Con 
gress  were  filled  with  exultation.  The  spirit  of  opposition  had  ever 


404  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

been  sustained  by  Sumpter,  Marion,  and  other  partisans,  who  now 
hailed  the  coming  campaign  as  the  reward  of  their  long  exertions. 
Before  the  arrival  of  the  American  army,  the  latter  general,  accom 
panied  by  Lieutenant-colonel  Lee,  invested  Fort  Watson,  between 
Camden  and  Charleston,  and  obliged  it  to  surrender. 

On  the  arrival  of  General  Greene,  he  encamped  before  Camden, 
which  was  defended  by  Lord  Rawdon  with  nine  hundred  men. 
In  consequence  of  his  force  being  insufficient  for  an  assault,  he  took 
a  good  position  about  a  mile  distant,  in  order  to  allure  the  garrison 
from  their  works.  He  was  successful,  and  an  engagement  ensued, 
in  which  the  Americans  were  worsted;  but  they  retreated  in  such 
good  order  as  to  save  most  of  their  wounded,  artillery,  and  pri 
soners.  The  British  retired  to  Camden,  and  the  Americans  to  about 
five  miles  above  their  former  position. 

Lord  Rawdon,  on  the  7th  of  May,  received  a  considerable  rein 
forcement  under  Colonel  Watson.  He,  therefore,  on  the  next  day, 
endeavoured  to  give  battle  to  General  Greene.  But  failing  in  this, 
and  having  all  his  supplies  intercepted,  he  returned  to  Camden, 
burned  the  jails,  mills,  and  his  own  baggage,  and  evacuated  the 
post.  Soon  after,  the  British  were  obliged  to  contract  their  extended 
chain  of  communication,  and  retire  within  the  Santee.  This  mea 
sure  greatly  animated  the  friends  of  Congress,  as  well  as  the  par 
tisan  militia,  and  was  immediately  followed  by  the  surrender  of  a 
post  at  Orangeburg  to  General  Sumpter,  and  of  Fort  Motte  on  the 
following  day.  Three  days  after,  the  garrison  of  Fort  Granby,  con 
sisting  of  three  hundred  and  fifty-two  men,  surrendered  to  Colonel 
Lee.  About  the  same  time,  Marion  compelled  the  garrison  of 
Georgetown  to  evacuate  that  post. 

But  few  stations  now  remained  in  possession  of  the  British.  One 
of  these,  Fort  Cornwallis,  was  attacked  by  Lieutenant-colonel  Lee, 
and  Colonel  Pickens,  and,  after  an  obstinate  resistance,  compelled 
to  capitulate.  The  Americans  took  three  hundred  prisoners,  and 
had  about  forty  killed  and  wounded. 

Some  acts  of  retaliation  took  place  about  this  time,  which  became 
a  source  of  uneasiness  to  the  officers.  By  strenuous  exertions  some  of 
the  perpetrators  were  discovered  and  received  summary  punishment. 

IVJeanwhile,  General  Greene,  with  the  main  army,  laid  siege  to 
Ninety-Six,  in  which  was  Lieutenant-colonel  Crugar,  with  five  hun 
dred  men.  On  the  left  of  the  besiegers  was  a  work  in  the  form  of 
a  star  ;  on  the  right  a  strong  stockade  fort,  containing  two  block 
houses.  The  town  was  also  defended  with  strong  pickets,  and 
surrounded  by  a  ditch  and  high  bank.  The  Americans  pushed 


BATTLE   OF   EUTAW   SPRINGS.  407 

the  siege  with  vigour,  erecting  four  batteries,  the  last  within  a  hun 
dred  lines  of  the  main  fort.  The  abattis  was  turned,  and  a  mine 
and  two  trenches  extended  to  within  six  feet  of  the  ditch,  when 
news  arrived  that  Lord  Rawdon  was  hastily  approaching  at  the 
head  of  two  thousand  men.  This  at  once  blasted  the  fair  pros 
pects  of  the  Americans,  and  after  an  unsuccessful  assault,  they 
raised  the  siege,  and  retreated  over  the  Saluda.  In  this  siege  the 
Polish  general,  Kosciusko,  particularly  distinguished  himself.  His 
devotion  to  the  American  cause  had  already  won  him  the  confi 
dence  and  esteem  of  Washington,  Greene,  and  the  other  leading 
generals  of  the  Revolution. 

The  disappointment  of  the  American  general  was  as  bitter  as  it 
was  unexpected  ;  yet  still  his  elastic  spirit  refused  to  despond  ;  and 
when  advised  to  retire  to  Virginia,  his  reply  was  :  «  I  will  recover 
South  Carolina,  or  die  in  the  attempt."  As  on  a  former  occasion, 
he  determined  to  attack  the  enemy  in  detail,  and  intercept  their 
supplies.  He  therefore  declined  battle,  when  offered  by  Rawdon, 
until  that  general  had  divided  his  forces,  when  he  showed  himself 
with  such  effect  that  his  lordship  retreated  to  Orangeburg,  closely 
pursued  by  his  indefatigable  opponent. 

At  Orangeburg,  Lord  Rawdon  was  joined  by  Lieutenant  Crugar, 
who  had  evacuated  Ninety-Six  ;  and  General  Greene,  unable  to 
resist  their  combined  force,  retired  to  the  high  hills  above  Santee. 
In  order  to  carry  out  his  plan,  and  compel  the  evacuation  of 
Orangeburg,  Marion  and  Sumpter  were  despatched  against  Monk's 
Corner,  and  Dorchester.  They  took  different  roads,  and  com 
menced  separate  and  successful  attacks  on  convoys  and  detach 
ments  in  the  vicinity  of  Charleston.  In  this  manner  was  the  war 
conducted.  While  the  British  forces  were  compact  they  could 
neither  cover  the  country,  nor  force  the  Americans  to  action  ;  and 
when  divided,  the  detachments  were  attacked  separately,  and  de 
feated.  The  consequence  was,  that  the  spirit  of  revolt  became 
general,  and  the  royal  interest  daily  declined. 

Lord  Rawrdon  now  took  post  near  the  junction  of  the  Wateree 
and  Congaree  ;  but  upon  the  approach  of  Greene  retired  to  the 
Eutaw  Springs,  forty  miles  nearer  Charleston.  Here  he  was 
attacked  by  the  Americans,  and  a  severe  engagement  ensued. 
Greene's  front  line  was  composed  of  militia,  who  commenced  the 
attack  on  some  advance  parties  of  the  enemy,  and  behaved  with 
great  courage.  The  continentals  next  engaged,  rushing  to  the 
charge  through  a  heavy  cannonade  and  shower  of  musketry.  They 
were  led  by  Colonels  Williams  and  Campbell,  the  latter  of  whom 


408  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

was  mortally  wounded,  but  survived  long  enough  to  learn  the  com 
plete  success  of  the  Americans.  The  British  fled  to  a  large  brick 
house,  from  which  it  was  found  impracticable  to  dislodge  them. 
Their  loss,  inclusive  of  prisoners,  was  one  thousand  one  hundred 
men;  that  of  the  Americans,  five  hundred,*  of  whom  sixty  were 
officers. 

General  Greene  was  honoured  by  Congress  with  a  British  stand 
ard  and  gold  medal ;  and  the  thanks  of  that  body  were  voted  to 
the  different  corps  and  commanders. 

This  battle  closed  the  active  warfare  in  the  south.  The  Ameri 
cans  retired  to  their  former  position  above  Santee,  and  the  British 
stationed  themselves  near  Monk's  Corner.  Both  armies  subse 
quently  moved  to  the  lower  country.  A  few  excursions  were 
afterwards  made  by  the  enemy,  and  sundry  small  enterprises  exe 
cuted  ;  but  nothing  of  more  general  consequence  than  the  loss  of 
property  and  a  few  individual  lives. 

Thus  closed  the  campaign  of  1781,  in  the  south.  Upon  review 
ing  its  operations,  we  are  forcibly  impressed  by  the  talents  of  the 
man  who,  during  that  gloomy  period,  redeemed  and  strengthened 
the  American  cause.  With  an  unpaid  and  half  naked  army,  he 
had  to  contend  with  veteran  soldiers,  who  were  supplied  with 
every  thing  that  the  wealth  of  Britain  and  the  plunder  of  Carolina 
could  furnish  ;  yet  he  compelled  superior  numbers  to  retire  from 
the  extremity  of  the  state,  and  confine  themselves  in  the  capital 
and  its  vicinity.  Neither  defeat  nor  difficulties  could  overcome 
his  indomitable  perseverance  ;  and  for  him  to  lose  a  battle  was  but 
to  gain  a  store  of  experience,  some  day  to  be  exercised  to  the  dis 
comfiture  of  his  enemies. 

The  year  1781  had  opened  with  very  gloomy  prospects  for  the 
cause  of  American  independence.  Vigorous  and  united  efforts  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States  were  needful  to  meet  the  co-opera 
tion  of  the  succours  from  France  ;  but  the  states  seemed  feeble 
and  irresolute.  The  people  were  heartily  tired  of  the  war ;  but 
though  no  better  affected  towards  Great  Britain  than  before,  yet 
they  earnestly  desired  deliverance  from  the  multiplied  miseries  of 
the  long  protracted  struggle.  At  first  they  had  rushed  impetuously 
into  the  contest ;  but  their  early  ardour  had  begun  to  cool.  In  the 
Eastern  States  particularly,  since  the  theatre  of  war  had  been  trans 
ferred  to  the  south,  the  greatest  apathy  prevailed. 

Congress  had  called  for  an  army  of  thirty-seven  thousand  men, 
to  be  in  camp  on  the  first  of  January.  The  resolution,  as  usual, 
was  too  late ;  but  even,  although  it  could  have  been  promulgated  rea- 


DESTITUTION    OF    THE    ARMY.  409 

sonably,  so  large  a  force  could  not  have  been  brought  into  the  field 
under  the  imperfect  organization  of  the  government.  The  deficien 
cies  and  delays  on  the  part  of  the  several  states  exceeded  all  rea~ 
sonable  anticipation.  At  no  time  during  this  active  and  interest 
ing  campaign  did  the  regular  force  drawn  from  Pennsylvania  to 
Georgia,  inclusive,  exceed  three  thousand  men.  So  late  as  the 
month  of  April,  the  states,  from  New  Jersey  to  New  Hampshire 
inclusive,  had  furnished  only  five  thousand  infantry ;  but  this  force 
was  slowly  and  gradually  increased  ;  till,  in  the  month  of  May, 
including  cavalry  and  artillery,  which  never  exceeded  one  thousand 
men,  it  presented  a  total  of  about  seven  thousand,  of  whom  four 
thousand  might  have  been  relied  on  in  active  service.  A  consider 
able  part  of  this  force  arrived  in  camp  too  late  to  acquire,  during 
the  campaign,  that  discipline  which  is  essential  to  military  success. 
Inadequate  as  this  army  was  for  asserting  the  independence  of  the 
country,  the  prospect  of  being  unable  to  support  it  was  still  more 
alarming.  The  men  were  in  rags  :  clothing  had  been  long  ex 
pected  from  Europe,  but  had  not  arrived,  and  the  disappointment 
was  severely  felt. 

The  diary  of  Washington,  as  well  as  his  correspondence,  bears 
ample  evidence  of  the  destitute  condition  of  the  army,  and  of  the 
severe  trials  to  which,  as  commander-in-chief,  he  was  consequently 
exposed.  The  magazines  were  ill  supplied  ;  the  troops  were  often 
almost  starving ;  and  the  army  was  ready  to  be  dissolved  for  want 
of  food.  The  arsenals  were  nearly  empty.  Instead  of  having  the 
requisites  of  a  well-appointed  army,  every  thing  was  deficient ;  and 
there  was  little  prospect  of  being  better  provided  ;  for  money  was 
as  scarce  as  food  and  military  stores.  Congress  had  resolved  to 
issue  no  more  bills  on  the  credit  of  the  Union  ;  and  the  care  of 
supplying  the  army  was  devolved  upon  the  several  states,  according 
to  a  rule  established  by  that  body.  Even  when  the  states  had  col 
lected  the 'specified  provisions,  the  quartermaster-general  had  no 
funds  to  pay  for  the  transportation  of  them  to  the  army,  to  accom 
plish  which,  military  impressment  was  resorted  to  in  a  most  offen 
sive  degree.  Congress  was  surrounded  with  difficulties :  the  seve 
ral  states  were  callous  and  dilatory  ;  and  American  affairs  wore  an 
aspect  of  debility  and  decay.  To  deepen  the  general  gloom,  there 
were  portentous  rumours  of  preparations  for  savage  warfare  along 
the  whole  extent  of  the  western  frontier;  of  an  invasion  on  the  side 
of  Canada ;  and  of  strong  disaffection  in  Vermont.  In  the  midst 
of  financial  difficulties  and  apprehensions  of  attack  both  from  foreign 
and  domestic  enemies,  a  new  and  alarming  danger  appeared,  in  a 
52  2M 


410  LIFE    OF   WASHINGTON. 

quarter  where  it  was  little  expected,  and  which  threatened  to  con 
summate  the  ruin  of  American  independence.  The  privations  and 
sufferings  of  the  troops  had  been  uncommonly  great.  To  the  usual 
hardships  of  a  military  life,  were  added  nakedness  and  hunger, 
under  that  rigour  of  climate  which  whets  the  Appetite  and  renders 
clothing  absolutely  necessary.  By  the  depreciation  of  the  paper 
currency,  their  pay  was  little  more  than  nominal,  and  it  was  many 
months  in  arrear. 

Besides  those  evils  which  were  common  to  the  whole  army,  the 
troops  of  Pennsylvania  imagined  that  they  laboured  under  peculiar 
grievances.  Their  officers  had  engaged  them  for  three  years,  or 
during  the  war.  On  the  expiration  of  three  years,  the  soldiers  thought 
themselves  entitled  to  a  discharge  ;  the  officers  alleged  that  they 
were  engaged  for  the  war.  The  large  bounties  given  to  those  who 
were  not  bound  by  previous  enlistment,  heightened  the  discontent 
of  the  soldiers,  and  made  them  more  zealous  in  asserting  what  they 
thought  their  right.  In  the  first  transports  of  their  patriotism  they 
had  readily  enlisted  ;  but  men  will  not  long  willingly  submit  to 
immediate  and  unprofitable  hardships  in  the  prospect  of  distant  and 
contingent  rewards. 

The  discontents  engendered  by  the  causes  now  mentioned  had 
for  some  time  been  increasing;  and,  on  the  1st  of  January,  1781, 
broke  out  into  open  and  almost  universal  mutiny  of  the  troops  of 
Pennsylvania.  On  a  signal  given,  the  greater  part  of  the  non-com 
missioned  officers  and  privates  paraded  under  arms,  declaring 
their  intention  of  marching  to  the  seat  of  Congress  to  obtain  a 
redress  of  grievances  or  to  abandon  the  service.  The  officers  made 
every  exertion  to  bring  them  back  to  their  duty,  but  in  vain  ;  in 
the  attempt,  a  captain  was  killed  and  several  other  persons  wounded. 
General  Wayne  interposed ;  but  on  cocking  his  pistols  at  some  of 
the  most  audacious  of  the  mutineers,  several  bayonets  were  at  his 
breast,  the  men  exclaiming,  "We  respect  you,  we  lov<e  you;  but 
you  are  a  dead  man  if  you  fire  !  Do  not  mistake  us  ;  we  are  not 
going  to  the  enemy ;  on  the  contrary,  were  they  to  come  out,  you 
should  see  us  fight  under  you  with  as  much  resolution  and  alacrity 
as  ever ;  but  we  wish  a  redress  of  grievances,  and  will  no  longer 
be  amused."  Such  of  the  Pennsylvania  troops  as  had  at  first  taken 
ao  part  in  the  disturbance,  were  prevailed  on  to  join  the  mutineers  ; 
and  the  whole,  amounting  to  thirteen  hundred  men,  with  six  field- 
pieces,  marched  from  Morristown  under  temporary  officers  of  their 
own  selection.  General  Washington's  head-quarters  were  then  at 
New  Windsor,  on  the  North  River. 


MUTINY    IN    THE    AMERICAN    ARMY.  411 

Next  day,  General  Wayne  and  Colonels  Butter  and  Stewart,  offi 
cers  who,  in  a  high  degree,  enjoyed  the  confidence  and  affection  of 
the  troops,  followed  the  mutineers;  but  though  civilly  received,  they 
could  not  succeed  in  adjusting  the  differences  or  in  restoring  subor 
dination.  On  the  third  day,  the  mutineers  resumed  their  march, 
and  in  the  morning  arrived  at  Princeton.  Congress  and  the  Penn 
sylvania  government,  as  well  as  General  Washington,  were  much 
alarmed  by  this  mutiny,  fearing  that  the  example  might  be  conta 
gious  and  lead  to  the  dissolution  of  the  feeble  American  army. 
Therefore  a  committee  of  Congress,  with  the  governor,  and  some 
members  of  the  executive  council  of  Pennsylvania,  set  out  from 
Philadelphia  for  the  purpose  of  allaying  this  dangerous  commotion. 
REVIOUS  to  this,  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  who  heard 
of  the  mutiny,  on  the  morning  of  the  3d,  was 
equally  active  in  endeavouring  to  turn  it  to  the  ad- 
vantage  of  the  British.  He  ordered  a  large  corps 
to  be  in  readiness  to  march  on  a  moment's  notice, 
and  sent  two  spies  by  way  of  Amboy,  and  two  by 
way  of  Elizabethtown,  as  agents  from  himself  to  treat  with  the  mu 
tineers.  But  two  of  the  persons  employed  were  actually  spies  on 
himself,  and  soon  disclosed  his  proposals  to  the  American  authori 
ties.  The  two  real  spies,  on  reaching  Princeton,  were  seized  by 
the  mutineers,  and  afterwards  delivered  up  to  General  Wayne,  who 
had  them  tried  and  executed  on  the  10th. 

At  first  the  mutineers  declined  leaving  Princeton ;  but  finding 
their  demands  would  be  substantially  complied  with,  they  marched 
to  Trenton  on  the  9th,  and  before  the  15th  the  matter  was  so  far 
settled  that  the  committee  of  Congress  left  Trenton  and  returned 
to  Philadelphia.  All  who  had  enlisted  for  three  years,  or  during 
the  wrar,  were  discharged  ;  and  in  cases  where  the  terms  of  enlist 
ment  could  not  be  produced,  the  oath  of  the  soldier  was  to  be  re 
ceived  as  evidence  on  the  point.  They  were  to  receive  imme 
diate  certificates  for  the  depreciation  on  their  pay,  and  their  ar 
rears  were  to  be  settled  as  soon  as  circumstances  would  admit. 
On  these  terms,  about  one-half  of  the  Pennsylvania  troops  ob 
tained  their  discharge;  numbers  of  them  having,  as  afterwards 
appeared,  made  false  declarations  concerning  the  terms  of  their 
enlistment. 

Washington's  agency  in  removing  this  alarming  danger  was 
felt  in  the  advice  which  he  gave  to  General  Wayne  to  proffer  his 
mediation  between  the  soldiers  and  Congress,  and  to  exert  himself 
in  obtaining  a  redress  of  grievances.  That  body,  in  this  instance, 


412  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

was  compelled,  by  the  circumstances,  to  grant  much  more 
than  what,  if  well  timed,  would  have  prevented  this  dangerous 
mutiny. 

The  success  of  the  Pennsylvania  troops,  in  exacting  their  pay 
by  threats  of  violence,  produced  a  similar  spiflt  of  insubordination 
in  another  division  of  the  army.  On  the  night  of  the  20th  of  Janu 
ary,  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  of  the  Jersey  brigade,  which  was 
quartered  at  Pompton,  complaining  of  grievances  similar  to  those 
of  the  Pennsylvania  line,  and  hoping  for  equal  success,  rose  in 
arms,  and  marched  to  Chatham,  with  the  view  of  prevailing  on 
some  of  the  troops  stationed  there  to  join  them.  Their  number 
was  not  formidable ;  and  General  Washington,  knowing  that  he 
might  depend  on  the  fidelity  of  the  greater  part  of  his  troops,  and 
determined  at  all  hazards  to  crush  this  mutinous  spirit,  detached 
General  Robert  Howe  with  six  hundred  men  against  the  insurgents, 
with  orders  to  force  them  to  unconditional  submission,  and  to  exe 
cute  some  of  the  most  turbulent  of  them  on  the  spot.  These  orders 
were  promptly  obeyed,  and  two  of  the  ringleaders  were  put  to 
death.  This  summary  proceeding  put  an  end  to  the  mutiny,  and 
restored  the  army  to  its  usual  discipline. 

Sir  Henry  Clinton,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Pennsylvanians,  endea 
voured  to  take  advantage  of  the  mutiny  of  the  Jersey  brigade.  He 
sent  emissaries  to  negotiate  with  them,  and  detached  General  Ro 
bertson  with  three  thousand  men  to  Staten  Island,  to  be  in  readiness 
to  support  them,  if  they  should  accede  to  his  proposals  ;  but  the 
mutiny,  by  Washington's  promptness,  was  so  speedily  crushed, 
that  Clinton's  emissaries  had  no  time  to  act. 

These  commotions  among  the  soldiers  awakened  Congress  to  a 
sense  of  the  public  danger,  and  rendered  it  more  attentive  to  the 
wants  of  the  army  than  it  had  hitherto  been.  It  raised  three  months' 
pay  in  specie  ;  and  even  that  small  sum  was  gratefully  received  by 
the  troops,  who  considered  it  a  token  that  the  civil  authorities  were 
not  entirely  regardless  of  their  sufferings,  or  indifferent  to  their 
comfort.  But,  in  attempting  to  escape  one  danger,  Congress  felt 
itself  exposed  to  another  scarcely  less  alarming.  The  means  used 
to  soothe  the  army  irritated  the  people.  The  troops  were  scantily 
supplied  ;  and  yet  the  inhabitants  murmured  loudly  at  the  contri 
butions  levied  upon  them  ;  and  the  dissatisfaction  which  pervaded 
the  mass  of  the  community  was  almost  as  alarming  as  the  mutinous 
spirit  of  the  army.* 

*  Western  World. 


LOAN    FROM    FRANCE.  413 

REVIOUS  to  these  disturbances,  the  United 
States  had  been  held  together  by  a  very 
slender  bond.  The  powers  of  Congress  were 
limited  ;  and  it  was  not  to  be  expected  that 
thirteen  independent  states,  each  jealous  of 
its  liberty,  power,  and  property,  would 
promptly,  harmoniously,  and  vigorously  com 
bine  their  strength  during  a  protracted,  ex 
pensive,  and  bloody  struggle.  But  though 
every  man  of  discernment  was  sensible  of  the  propriety  of  increas 
ing  the  powers  of  Congress,  and  consequently  of  leaving  less  in  the 
hands  of  the  state  legislatures ;  yet  the  several  states,  having  once 
been  in  the  possession  of  power,  felt  no  inclination  to  relinquish 
any  part  of  their  authority,  how  incompetent  soever  they  might  be 
to  the  advantageous  exercise  of  it.  Thus  the  concentration  of  a 
due  degree  of  power  in  the  hands  of  Congress  was  a  measure  that 
could  not  be  easily  accomplished. 

The  war  had  continued  much  longer  than  the  Americans  had 
originally  anticipated ;  and  the  natural  resources  of  the  country, 
mismanaged  by  the  inexperience  of  the  government,  and  its  igno- 
ranee  of  the  principles  of  political  economy,  were  so  much  ex 
hausted,  that  t  it  became  apparent  the  war  could  not  be  carried  on 
without  a  foreign  loan ;  and  France,  sufficiently  embarrassed  with 
her  own  affairs,  was  the  only  country  to  which  Congress  could  look 
for  pecuniary  aid.  Accordingly,  Colonel  John  Laurens  was  em 
ployed  on  a  mission  to  this  country,  and,  besides  endeavouring  to 
negotiate  a  loan,  was  instructed  to  press  on  the  French  monarch 
the  importance  of  maintaining  a  naval  superiority  in  the  American 
seas.  The  valuable  counsel  of  Washington  was  afforded  to  the 
envoy  on  this  occasion,  and  his  letter  to  Colonel  Laurens,  contain 
ing  statements  and  arguments  in  support  of  the  application,  had 
great  influence  when  laid  before  the  French  king  and  his  ministry, 
who  recommended,  in  granting  the  loan,  that  the  money  to  be  ap 
propriated  to  the  army  should  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  General 
Washington.* 

WThile  the  energies  of  America  were  paralyzed  by  the  financial 
difficulties  of  Congress,  the  mutinous  spirit  of  the  army,  and  the 
selfishness  and  apathy  of  several  of  the  states,  the  British  interest 
in  the  country  seemed  in  a  prosperous  condition.  General  Greene 
was  maintaining  a  doubtful  and  hazardous  struggle  against  Corn- 
wallis,  in  North  Carolina ;  and  a  British  detachment  from  New 

*  Sparks. 


414  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

York,  under  the  traitor  Arnold,  was  ravaging  the  state  of  Vir 
ginia. 

The  untoward  condition  of  American  affairs  could  not  be  con 
cealed  from  the  British  ministry,  who  flattered  themselves  that  they 
would  soon  compel  General  Washington  and^his  feeble  army  to 
take  refuge  in  New  England,  and  that  they  would  reduce  all  the 
states  south  of  the  Hudson  to  submission  to  the  British  crown. 
But  exertions  on  the  one  side,  and  reverses  on  the  other,  which 
neither  had  anticipated,  were  soon  to  change  the  relative  condition 
of  the  contending  parties. 

From  the  position  and  strength  of  the  hostile  armies  opposed  on 
the  Hudson,  neither  could  hope  to  gain  any  decisive  advantage. 
The  American  force  was  entirely  inadequate  to  attack  New  York  ; 
and  Sir  Henry  Clinton  had  no  prospect  of  being  able  to  force  the 
strong  posts  of  General  Washington,  in  the  highlands.  Neither 
party  could  do  more  than  carry  on  a  petty  and  desultory  warfare. 
Hitherto  the  Americans  had  received  no  direct  aid  from  the  French 
army.  Ever  since  its  arrival,  the  fleet  of  that  nation  had  been 
blockaded  at  Newport ;  and  the  land  forces  remained  in  a  position 
to  co-operate  with  the  fleet,  for  mutual  defence. 

About  the  middle  of  January,  the  British  fleet  was  overtaken  by 
a  storm,  ofF  the  east  end  of  Long  Island,  and  sustained  so  much 
loss  and  damage  as  to  give  the  French  fleet  a  superiority  on  the 
coast.  Destouches,  the  French  admiral,  was  prevailed  on  to  seize 
that  opportunity  of  sending  a  small  force,  under  the  command  of 
M.  de  Tilly,  to  Chesapeake  Bay,  to  act  against  Arnold,  who  was 
then  pillaging  Virginia;  but  this  force  returned  to  Newport  in  fifteen 
days  from  its  departure,  without  accomplishing  any  thing  except 
the  capture  of  the  Romulus,  a  fifty  gun  ship,  on  her  way  from 
Charleston  to  Chesapeake  Bay. 

General  Washington,  unwilling  to  relinquish  the  attempt  against 
Arnold,  repaired  to  Newport  ;  and  on  the  6th  of  March  had  a  con 
ference  with  the  French  commanders,  at  which  it  was  agreed  that 
the  whole  fleet  should  immediately  sail  to  the  Chesapeake,  with  a 
detachment  of  troops  on  board  ;  but  owing  to  unforeseen  circum 
stances,  it  was  the  evening  of  the  8th  before  the  fleet  left  the  har 
bour. 

Meanwhile,  due  notice  of  the  expedition  was  sent  to  General 
Lafayette,  who  had  just  recently  been  detached  from  the  main 
army  by  General  Washington,  to  take  the  command  in  Virginia, 
with  instructions  to  co-operate  with  the  allies.  From  this  enter 
prise  General  Washington  entertained  sanguine  expectations  of 


ARNOLD'S    DESCENT   ON    VIRGINIA.  415 

being  able  to  apprehend  Arnold  ;  and  directed  Lafayette  to  grant 
him  no  terms  which  would  save  him  from  the  consequences  of 
his  crimes.  However,  the  delay  in  the  sailing  of  the  fleet  frus 
trated  Washington's  design.  . 

The  British  admiral,  Arbuthnot,  having  repaired  his  damages, 
pursued,  and  on  the  16th  overtook  the  French  fleet  off  the  capes 
of  Virginia.  An  indecisive  engagement  ensued,  in  which  each 
party  claimed  the  victory;  but  the  object  of  the  French  expedition 
was  defeated,  and  the  fleet  returned  to  Newport. 

It  is  necessary,  here,  to  revert  to  what  had  been  passing  in 
Virginia,  in  order  to  understand  the  position  of  affairs  in  that  state, 
at  the  time  of  Lafayette's  assuming  the  command. 

Towards  the  end  of  October,  1780,  General  Leslie  entered 
Chesapeake  Bay,  landed  at.  Portsmouth,  and  began  to  fortify  him 
self  there  with  about  three  thousand  men.  But  on  experiencing 
unexpected  and  increasing  difficulties  in  the  Carolinas,  Cornwallis 
directed  that  officer,  with  his  detachment,  to  proceed  to  Charleston. 
The  invasion  of  Virginia,  however,  though  interrupted,  was  not 
relinquished.  Sir  Henry  Clinton  resolved  to  prosecute  the  war 
with  vigour,  in  that  quarter  ;  and  in  the  end  of  the  year  sent  the 
infamous  Arnold  to  Chesapeake  Bay,  with  a  detachment  of  sixteen 
hundred  men.  Arnold,  thirsting  for  plunder,  sailed  up  James 
River,  and  on  the  4th  of  January,  1781,  landed  at  Westover,  one 
hundred  and  forty  miles  from  the  capes,  and  twenty-five  below 
Richmond. 

Major-general  Baron  Steuben,  who  then  commanded  the  Ameri 
can  forces  in  that  part  of  Virginia,  thought  the  expedition  was 
intended  to  act  against  Petersburg,  situated  on  the  Appomattox, 
which  falls  into  James  River,  a  little  above  Westover.  At  that 
place  a  considerable  quantity  of  stores  had  been  collected  for  the 
use  of  the  southern  army  ;  and  those  stores  the  baron  caused  his 
feeble  body  of  raw  troops,  scarcely  amounting  to  three  hundred 
men,  to  remove  to  a  place  of  greater  security. 

At  Westover,  Arnold  landed  with  the  greater  part  of  his  troops, 
and  marched  directly  towards  Richmond.  A  few  regulars  who 
were  in  that  vicinity,  and  some  militia,  were  ordered  to  impede 
his  progress,  but  their  efforts  were  ineffectual.  Meanwhile,  Baron 
Steuben  made  every  exertion  to  remove  the  stores  from  Richmond, 
carrying  a  part  of  them  across  the  river,  and  a  part  to  West  Ham, 
at.  the  head  of  the  rapids. 

On  the  day  after  landing  at  Westover,  Arnold  entered  Rich 
mond,  with  little  opposition.  There  he  halted  with  five  hundred 


416  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

men,  and  sent  Lieutenant-colonel  Simcoe  forward  with  other  five 
hundred  to  West  Ham,  where  he  burned  and  destroyed  a  valuable 
foundery,  a  boring  mill,  a  powder  magazine,  and  a  considerable 
quantity  of  military  stores.  Colonel  Simcoe  returned  to  Rich 
mond,  where  the  public  property  and  a  large  quantity  of  rum 
and  salt  belonging  to  individuals  were  destroyed.  After  com 
pleting  the  work  of  destruction  at  Richmond,  Arnold  returned  to 
Westover  on  the  7th  ;  and  after  some  skirmishing,  re-embarked 
on  the  10th,  sailed  down  the  river  destroying  the  property  on  his 
way,  and  on  the  20th  arrived  at  Portsmouth,  where  he  manifested 
an  intention  of  establishing  a  permanent  post.  In  this  expedition, 
Arnold,  while  he  destroyed  a  large  quantity  of  military  stores  and 
other  valuable  property,  stated  his  loss  at  only  seven  men  killed 
and  twenty-three  wounded. 

Baron  Steuben  being  in  no  condition  to  attack  Arnold  at  Ports 
mouth,  was  careful  to  station  his  troops  at  the  most  convenient 
passes  leading  from  that  place  into  the  country,  in  order  to  afford 
the  inhabitants  all  the  protection  in  his  power.  It  was  while 
Arnold  lay  at  Portsmouth,  that  General  Washington  formed  the 
plan  of  apprehending  him,  which  failed  through  the  backwardness 
of  the  French  to  engage  in  it. 

As  Arnold's  force  was  not  sufficient  to  make  any  deep  and  per 
manent  impression  on  the  powerful  state  of  Virginia,  the  British 
commander-in-chief  resolved  to  increase  it ;  and  for  that  purpose, 
about  the  middle  of  March,  sent  General  Philips  with  two  thousand 
chosen  men  from  New  York  to  Chesapeake  bay.  General  Philips 
arrived  at  Portsmouth  on  the  26th  ;  and  being  the  superior  officer, 
took  the  command  of  the  army  in  Virginia. 

After  employing  some  time  in  completing  the  fortifications  of 
Portsmouth,  General  Philips  began  offensive  operations,  with  a 
force  much  superior  to  what  Congress  could  oppose  to  him  in  that 
part  of  the  country.  On  the  18th  of  April,  he  embarked  twenty- 
five  hundred  men  on  board  his  smaller  vessels,  and  sailed  up  James 
River,  in  order  to  destroy  every  thing  that  had  escaped  the  ravages 
of  Arnold.  He  landed  at  Burrel's  Ferry,  and  marched  to  Williams- 
burgh,  the  former  seat  of  government  in  Virginia.  A  small  body 
of  militia  assembled  there,  retreated  on  his  approach,  and  he  en 
tered  the  place  without  opposition.  He  sent  part  through  all  the 
lower  district  of  that  narrow  tract  of  land,  which  lies  between 
James  and  York  rivers,  who  destroyed  all  public  stores  and  property 
which  fell  in  their  way.  He  then  re-embarked,  sailed  up  the  river 
to  City  Point,  where  he  landed  on  the  24th,  and  next  day  marched 


ARNOLDS     DESCENT     ON     VIRGINIA. 


ARNOLD'S    DESCENT   ON    VIRGINIA.  419 

to  Petersburgh,  where  he  destroyed  an  immense  quantity  of  tobacco 
and  other  property,  together  with  the  vessels  lying  in  the  river. 

Baron  Steuben  was  unable  to  make  any  effectual  resistance  to 
this  ruthless  work  of  devastation.  The  regular  troops  of  the  state 
had  been  sent  to  reinforce  General  Greene,  and  the  militia  then  in 
the  field  did  not  much  exceed  two  thousand.  Even  although  the 
whole  of  that  number  could  have  been  collected  at  any  one  point, 
yet  with  that  kind  of  force  no  enterprise  of  importance  could  be 
undertaken.  To  have  hazarded  a  battle  writh  the  militia  against 
regular  troops  would  only  have  been  to  insure  defeat,  the  loss  of 
arms,  and  the  consequent  discouragement  of  the  country.  Baron 
Steuben  had  the  mortification  to  see  the  state  laid  waste,  without 
being  able  to  relieve  it ;  and  after  some  slight  skirmishing  he  re 
treated  to  Richmond. 

Arnold  was  detached  to  Osbornes,  a  small  village  on  the  south 
side  of  James  River,  fifteen  miles  below  Richmond ;  while  General 
Philips  marched  to  Chesterfield  court-house,  which  had  been  ap 
pointed  the  place  of  rendezvous  for  the  new  levies  of  Virginia, 
where  he  destroyed  the  barracks  and  the  public  stores  which  had 
not  been  removed.  About  half-way  between  Osbornes  and  Rich 
mond,  a  few  small  armed  vessels  which  had  been  collected  to 
co-operate  with  the  French  against  Portsmouth,  after  a  slight 
resistance,  were  scuttled,  and  set  on  fire  by  their  crews,  who  joined 
the  militia  and  retreated. 

On  the  20th  of  April,  Philips  and  Arnold  reunited  their  forces 
near  Osbornes,  and  marched  against  Manchester,  a  small  town  on 
the  south  bank  of  James  River,  opposite  Richmond,  where,  as 
usual,  they  set  fire  to  the  warehouses,  and  consumed  the  tobacco 
and  other  property. 

At  this  critical  and  disastrous  period  in  the  history  of  Virginia, 
Lafayette  arrived  from  the  northward,  to  take  command  of  the 
military  force  in  that  state.  This  illustrious  friend  of  America  had 
already  manifested  such  a  lively  zeal  for  the  interests  of  the  Union 
as  secured  him  the  entire  confidence  of  Washington,  and  of  the 
Congress.  When  the  attempt  was  meditated  against  Arnold  at 
Portsmouth,  Washington,  as  we  have  already  seen,  had  appointed 
Lafayette  to  command  the  troops  to  be  employed  in  that  enter 
prise;  but,  on  the  abandonment  of  the  expedition  by  the  naval 
force  of  France,  he  returned  from  Annapolis  in  Maryland,  where 
he  had  arrived,  and  proceeded  to  the  head  of  Elk  River,  at  which 
place  he  received  General  Washington's  orders  to  take  the  com 
mand  of  the  troops  in  Virginia. 


420  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

When  Lafayette  marched  to  the  southward  on  the  meditated 
enterprise  against  Arnold,  the  troops  which  he  commanded  were 
drawn  chiefly  from  the  northern  states  ;  and,  as  it  was  believed  the 
expedition  would  be  of  short  duration,  they  were  ill-provided  for  a 
southern  campaign,  and  had  imbibed  strong  prejudices  against  the 
climate.  When  they  understood  that  the  duty  would  be  more 
permanent  than  had  at  first  been  expected,  numbers  of  them 
deserted.  But,  appealing  to  their  honour,  Lafayette  at  length  suc 
ceeded  in  inspiring  his  troops  with  the  resolution  of  braving  every 
danger,  and  enduring  every  privation  in  the  cause  of  their  country. 
In  order  to  encourage  them,  their  noble  commander,  as  careless  of 
fortune  as  he  was  ambitious  of  fame,  borrowed  money  on  his  own 
personal  credit  from  the  merchants  of  Baltimore  to  purchase  shoes, 
linen,  and  other  necessaries  for  his  detachment ;  and  the  ladies  of 
that  city,  with  patriotic  zeal,  took  charge  of  immediately  making 
the  summer  clothing  of  the  troops. 

Lafayette  arrived  at  Richmond  with  his  detachment  on  the 
evening  before  General  Philips  entered  Manchester ;  and,  instead 
of  attempting  to  pass  the  river  in  the  face  of  that  officer,  the  British 
general  marched  back  to  Bermuda  Hundreds,  a  point  of  land  formed 
by  the  junction  of  James  River  and  the  Appomattox,  destroying 
much  valuable  property  on  his  way.  Embarking  his  army,  he 
sailed  down  the  river  as  far  as  Hog's  Island,  where  the  van  of  his 
fleet  arrived  on  the  5th  of  May. 

On  the  return  of  the  British  down  the  river,  Lafayette  sent  small 
parties  to  follow  them  and  watch  their  motions,  while  he  established 
his  head- quarters  behind  the  river  Chicahominy,  at  some  distance 
from  Richmond.  On  the  7th  of  May,  General  Philips  received  a 
letter  from  Cornwallis,  informing  him  of  his  march  into  Virginia, 
and  mentioning  Petersburgh  as  the  place  where  he  expected  to 
meet  the  British  troops  in  that  province.-  General  Philips  imme 
diately  returned  up  the  river,  landed  one  division  at  Brandon,  wrhile 
another  proceeded  to  City  Point ;  and  on  the  9th,  those  two  divi 
sions  met  at  Petersburgh,  where  their  arrival  was  so  unexpected 
that  they  took  prisoners  some  of  Lafayette's  officers,  who  had  been 
sent  to  that  place  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  boats  to  convey  his 
troops  across  the  river.  Meanwhile  General  Philips  was  seized 
with  fever,  and  was  so  ill  on  reaching  Petersburgh  as  to  be  unable 
to  give  orders.  The  progress  of  his  disease  was  rapid,  and  he 
died  four  days  afterwards,  when  the  command  of  the  British  troops 
devolved  on  Arnold. 

It  will  be  recollected  by  the  reader,  that,  after  the  battle  of  Guil- 


CORNWALLIS    AND    LAFAYETTE.  421 

ford  Court-house,  Cornwallis  retreated  to  Wilmington,  where  he 
arrived  on  the  7th  of  April,  1781.  There  he  remained  eighteen 
days,  in  order  to  refresh  his  exhausted  troops ;  and  having  resolved, 
after  much  deliberation,  to  proceed  northward,  on  the  25th  of  the 
month  he  set  out  on  his  march  into  Virginia,  a  distance  of  three  hun 
dred  miles.  In  his  progress  he  met  with  little  opposition.  Colonel 
Tarleton,  with  one  hundred  and  eighty  cavalry  and  sixty  mounted 
infantry,  preceded  the  army,  and  dispersed  any  bodies  of  militia 
that  were  assembling  to  interrupt  it.  On  the  20th  of  May,  Corn 
wallis  reached  Petersburgh,  and  took  the  command  of  the  British 
troops  in  Virginia.  He  felt  his  force  decidedly  superior  to  that 
opposed  to  him,  and  exulted  in  the  prospect  of  success.  Under 
valuing  the  talents  and  resources  of  Lafayette,  his  young  opponent, 
he  incautiously  wrote  to  Europe,  in  a  letter  which  was  intercepted, 
«  The  boy  cannot  escape  me." 

On  being  informed  that  General  Philips,  in  returning  up  the 
river,  had  landed  at  Brandon  on  the  southern  bank,  and  that  Corn- 
wallic  was  marching  northward,  Lafayette  perceived  that  a  junction 
of  their  forces  was  intended  ;  and  suspecting  that  Petersburgh  was 
the  appointed  place  of  meeting,  he  endeavoured  to  anticipate  them 
in  the  occupation  of  that  town.  But  the  march  of  General  Philips 
was  so  rapid  that  he  entered  it  before  him,  and  frustrated  his  de 
sign.  Lafayette,  with  his  little  army,  consisting  of  one  thousand 
continentals,  two  thousand  militia,  and  sixty  dragoons,  took  a  posi 
tion  at  Richmond,  and  exerted  himself  in  removing  the  military 
stores  to  places  of  greater  security. 

On  the  24th  of  May,  Cornwallis  left  Petersburgh,  crossed  James 
River  at  Westover,  thirty  miles  below  Lafayette's  encampment,  and 
being  joined  by  a  reinforcement  from  New  York,  marched  at  the 
head  of  upwards  of  four  thousand  veterans  towards  Richmond.  But 
Lafayette  evacuated  that  town  on  the  27th,  and  retired  towards  the 
back  country,  inclining  his  march  toward  the  north,  so  that  he  might 
easily  form  a  junction  with  General  Wayne,  who  was  hastening  to 
reinforce  him  with  eight  hundred  men  of  the  Pennsylvania  line. 
Cornwallis  eagerly  pursued  his  retreating  foe  as  far  as  the  upper 
part  of  Hanover  county ;  but  finding  it  impossible  to  overtake  Lafay 
ette,  or  to  prevent  his  junction  with  General  Wayne,  he  at  length 
altered  the  course  of  his  march,  and  turned  his  attention  to  more 
attainable  objects. 

In  his  progress  he  destroyed  much  public  property.  That  of 
individuals  also  was  plundered  or  consumed,  under  pretext  of  cut- 
ling  the  sinews  of  war ;  so  that  Virginia,  which  had  long  escaped 

2N 


422  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

hostile  ravages,  now  experienced  its  full  share  of  the  public  cala 
mity.  Cornwallis  took  the  horses  from  the  stables  of  private  gentle 
men,  formed  an  efficient  cavalry,  and  mounted  many  of  his  infantry ; 
so  that  he  could  move  considerable  detachments  with  uncommon 
rapidity. 

Being  thus  provided  with  the  means  of  rapid  marches,  he  planned 
an  expedition  against  Charlottesville,  where  the  General  Assembly 
of  Virginia  was  then  sitting,  deliberating  on  the  means  necessary 
for  the  prosecution  of  the  war.  The  Assembly  had  been  sitting 
at  Richmond,  but  on  the  approach  of  the  British  army  had 
retired  to  Charlottesville,  which  stands  on  the  bank  of  the  Ri- 
vanna,  high  up  the  river.  At  that  place  were  some  military  stores ; 
but  the  British  prisoners  were  removed  from  it  and  conducted 
towards  Pennsylvania. 

The  force  under  Tarleton,  in  the  expedition  against  Charlottes 
ville,  consisted  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  cavalry  and  seventy 
mounted  infantry  of  the  23d  regiment,  and  he  advanced  so  rapidly 
towards  the  place  of  his  destination,  that  it  was  by  mere  accident 
that  the  inhabitants  of  Charlottesville  heard  of  his  approach  before 
he  entered  the  town,  and  that  all  the  members  of  the  Assembly  of 
Virginia  were  not  made  prisoners.  But  Mr.  Janiette,  a  private 
gentleman,  observing  Tarleton's  march,  and  suspecting  hjs  design, 
mounted  a  fleet  horse,  and,  by  following  a  short  and  unfrequented 
road,  reached  the  town  two  hours  before  the  British  cavalry  reached 
it.  The  greater  part  of  the  legislative  Assembly  escaped  and  re 
assembled  at  Staunton,  beyond  the  Blue-Ridge  ;  only  seven  of  them 
were  made  prisoners. 

Tarleton  destroyed  all  the  public  stores  at  Charlottesville  ;  and 
sent  Captain  McLeod,  with  a  troop  of  horse,  to  Mr.  Jefferson's 
mansion,  three  miles  farther,  in  order  to  apprehend  that  gentleman 
and  some  other  individuals  who  were  understood  to  be  there,  but 
with  instructions  to  commit  no  depredations.  Mr.  Jefferson  and 
his  friends  made  their  escape  ;  but  McLeod  punctually  obeyed  his 
orders ;  and,  after  remaining  eighteen  hours  in  the  house,  left  it 
and  all  it  contained  uninjured ;  conduct  as  honourable  as  it  was 
rare,  especially  in  Virginia. 

Tarleton  having  executed  his  commission  at  Charlottesville,  has 
tened  down  the  Rivanna  to  co-operate  with  Colonel  Simcoe,  who 
had  been  sent  with  a  detachment  of  five  hundred  men,  chiefly 
infantry,  in  order  to  surprise  Baron  Steuben,  who  was  then  at  Point 
of  Fork,  formed  by  the  confluence  of  the  Rivanna  and  Fluvanna, 
ths  two  great  branches  which  co;istitute  James  River.  He  had 


CORNWALL1S    AND    LAFAYETTE.  423 

upwards  of  five  hundred  raw  troops  and  a  considerable  quantity  of 
stores  under  his  protection,  and  waited  for  the  militia  to  assemble 
to  the  south  of  James  River,  who  had  been  directed  to  assemble  at 
the  Point  of  Fork. 

Colonel  Simcoe's  progress  had  not  been  so  rapid  as  that  of  Tarle- 
ton;  but  so  skilfully  had  he  conducted  his  march,  that  though 
Baron  Steuben  had  heard  of  Tarleton's  expedition  against  Char- 
lottesville,  yet  he  had  received  no  notice  of  Simcoe's  approach  to 
his  own  encampment ;  but,  as  a  measure  of  precaution,  he  left 
Point  of  Fork  and  took  a  position  on  the  south  side  of  the  Fluvanna, 
securing  all  the  boats  on  the  southern  bank.  Colonel  Simcoe's 
detachment  unexpectedly  appeared,  and  the  baron,  mistaking  it  for 
the  van  of  the  British  army,  retreated  precipitately  during  the  night, 
leaving  behind  him  part  of  the  stores,  which  were  next  day  de 
stroyed  by  Colonel  Simcoe.  The  baron  did  not  halt  until  he  was 
thirty  miles  from  Point  of  Fork. 

In  Virginia,  the  British  had  committed  fearful  devastations,  and 
had  destroyed  much  valuable  property ;  but  Cornwallis,  though  at 
the  head  of  a  superior  army,  had  gained  no  important  advantage 
over  his  opponent.  He  had  pushed  Lafayette  across  the  Rappa- 
hannock,  but  was  unable  to  prevent  his  junction  with  General  Wayne, 
which  was  accomplished  at  Racoon  Ford,  on  the  7th  of  June. 
Lafayette,  thus  reinforced,  immediately  repassed  the  Rappahannock 
and  advanced  towards  the  British  army. 

In  the  course  of  these  movements,  Cornwallis  had  got  completely 
between  Lafayette  and  the  stores  of  the  state,  which  were  deposited 
at  different  places,  but  principally  at  Albemarle  Old  Court-house, 
high  up  the  Fluvanna,  on  the  south  side  of  the  river.  These  stores 
were  an  object  of  much  importance  to  both  armies ;  and,  early  in 
June,  the  British  commander,  after  having  dispensed  with  the  ser 
vices  of  Arnold,  and  allowed  him  to  return  to  New  York,  directed 
his  march  to  Albemarle  Old  Court-house.  Lafayette  was  anxious 
to  preserve  his  magazines  ;  and  while  the  British  army  was  more 
than  a  day's  march  from  Albemarle  Court-house,  by  a  rapid  and 
unsuspected  movement  he  suddenly  appeared  in  its  vicinity.  The 
British  general  easily  penetrated  his  design,  and  being  between 
him  and  his  magazines,  took  a  position  near  the  road,  so  that  he 
could  attack  him  with  advantage  if  he  attempted  to  advance. 
During  the  night,  however,  Lafayette  discovered  and  cleared  a 
nearer  but  long  disused  road,  and  passed  the  British  army  unob 
served  ;  and  in  the  morning,  Cornwallis,  with  surprise  and  mortifica 
tion,  saw  his  adversary  strongly  posted  between  him  and  the  stores. 


424  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

Perceiving  that  the  Americans  could  not  be  attacked  unless  under 
great  disadvantages,  and  believing  their  force  greater  than  it  really 
was,  Cornwallis  abandoned  his  enterprise,  and  began  a  retrograde 
movement,  and,  in  his  night  marches,  fell  back  upwards  of  fifty 
miles.  On  the  17th  of  June,  he  entered  Richmond,  but  left  it  on 
the  20th,  and  continued  his  route  to  Williamsburgh,  where  the 
main  body  of  his  army  arrived  on  the  25th. 

The  American  army  followed  him  at  a  cautious  distance.  On 
the  19th,  Lafayette  was  joined  by  Baron  Steuben,  with  his  detach 
ment,  which  increased  the  American  army  to  four  thousand  men  : 
of  whom  two  thousand  were  regulars,  but  only  fifteen  hundred  were 
disciplined  troops.  That  of  Cornwallis  appears  to  have  been  some 
what  more  numerous,  and  consisted  entirely  of  veterans :  it  was 
also  provided  with  a  well-mounted  body  of  cavalry,  which  had 
spread  terror  and  devastation  over  the  country,  and  greatly  intimi 
dated  the  militia. 

Though  Lafayette  kept  about  twenty  miles  behind  the  main  body 
of  the  British  army,  yet  its  light  parties  hung  on  its  rear,  and 
skirmishes  occasionally  ensued.  A  sharp  encounter  happened 
near  Williamsburgh  between  the  advanced  guard  of  the  Americans, 
under  Colonel  Butler,  and  the  rear-guard  of  the  British,  under 
Colonel  Simcoe,  in  which  both  suffered  considerable  loss.  Part 
of  the  British  army  marched  to  Colonel  Simcoe's  assistance,  and 
the  Americans  were  obliged  to  retreat.  Although  Lafayette  en 
couraged  skirmishes  and  partial  conflicts,  yet,  distrusting  his  new 
levies  and  militia,  he  cautiously  avoided  a  general  battle.  While 
the  British  army  remained  at  Williamsburgh,  the  Americans 
occupied  a  strong  encampment  twenty  miles  from  that  place. 

During  the  various  movements  of  the  troops  in  Virginia,  property 
to  a  great  amount,  both  public  and  private,  was  destroyed.  Among 
other  articles,  two  thousand  hogsheads  of  tobacco  were  burned : 
individuals  suffered  severely,  and  the  resources  of  the  state  were 
considerably  impaired.  While  the  army  traversed  the  country, 
carrying  devastation  in  its  train,  ships  of  war  sailed  up  the  rivers, 
pillaged  the  farms,  received  fugitive  negroes,  and  in  some  places 
laid  the  houses  in  ashes.  Early  in  the  spring,  a  British  frigate 
went  up  the  Potomac  to  General  Washington's  mansion  at  Mount 
Vernon,  and  demanded  from  the  steward  a  quantity  of  provisions, 
which  was  granted  in  order  to  save  the  property.  This  compliance, 
however,  was  highly  displeasing  to  Washington,  who  declared  it 
would  have  been  more  agreeable  to  him  to  have  left  the  enemy  to 


CORNWALLIS   AND    LAFAYETTE.  425 

take  what  they  pleased  by  force,  even  at  the  risk  of  burning  his 
house  and  property. 

Though  the  militia  showed  no  alacrity  in  taking  the  field,  and 
though  less  resistance  was  made  to  the  royal  arms  in  Virginia  than 
had  been  expected  from  such  a  powerful  state,  yet  very  little  incli 
nation  manifested  itself  among  the  people  to  support  the  British 
cause.  Some  loyalists  in  a  remote  part  of  the  province  were  easily 
reduced  to  unconditional  submission  by  General  Morgan,  whom  ill 
health  had  obliged  to  quit  the  army  ;  but  who,  on  this  occasion, 
put  himself  at  the  head  of  a  few  mounted  riflemen  to  subdue  the 
insurgents. 

For  some  time  after  entering  Virginia,  Cornwallis  entertained 
the  most  flattering  hopes  of  success.  He  was  at  the  head  of  an 
army,  which  no  force  in  that  province  was  able  to  resist ;  and  he 
felt  no  doubt  of  succeeding  against  Lafayette.  But  that  young 
officer  eluded  his  most  active  exertions,  frustrated  some  of  his 
schemes,  and  now  hung  upon  him  with  an  army,  which,  though 
still  inferior,  was  nevertheless  formidable,  and  continually  increasing 
in  strength.  But  new  disappointments  and  more  mortifying  events 
awaited  the  British  commander.  While  at  Williamsburgh  he  re 
ceived  a  requisition  from  Sir  Henry  Clinton  for  ..part  of  the  troops 
under  his  command :  the  commander-in-chief  having  discovered 
that  an  attack  was  meditated  on  New  York,  thought  his  garrison 
insufficient  for  the  defence  of  that  place,  and  wished  part  of  the 
troops  in  Virginia  to  be  sent  to  his  assistance.  Cornwallis  pre 
pared  to  comply  with  Sir  Henry  Clinton's  requisition  ;  and 
believing  that  with  the  remaining  troops  he  would  be  unable  to 
maintain  himself  at  Williamsburgh,  he  resolved  to  pass  James 
River  and  retire  to  Portsmouth.  On  the  30th  June  he  apprized 
the  commander-in-chief  of  his  resolution. 

On  the  4th  of  July  the  army  marched  from  Williamsburgh,  and 
encamped  on  the  bank  of  James  River,  so  as  to  cover  a  ford  leading 
into  the  island  of  Jamestown.  On  the  5th  and  6th,  the  baggage 
and  some  of  the  troops  passed  the  ford ;  but  the  main  body  of  the 
army  kept  its  ground. 

On  the  morning  of  the  5th  of  July,  Lafayette  left  his  encamp 
ment,  crossed  the  Chicahominy,  pushed  his  light  troops  near  the 
British  position,  and  advanced  with  the  continentals  to  make  an 
attempt  on  the  British  rear,  after  their  main  body  had  passed  the 
river.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  6th,  Lafayette  was  told  that  the 
main  body  of  the  British  army  had  crossed  the  ford,  and  that  a  rear 
guard  only  remained  behind  ;  an  opinion  which  the  British  general 
54  2N2 


426  LIFE   OF    WASHINGTON. 

artfully  encouraged  by  the  judicious  manner  in  which  he  posted 
his  troops.  General  Wayne,  imagining  that  he  had  to  fight  a  rear 
guard  only,  advanced  boldly  upon  the  enemy ;  but  in  a  short  time 
he  unexpectedly  found  himself  in  presence  of  the  British  army 
drawn  up  to  receive  him.  Instant  retreat  he  tonsidered  impracti 
cable,  and  thought  the  boldest  course  the  most  safe.  With  eight 
hundred  men  he  made  a  brisk  attack :  and  for  some  minutes  the 
conflict  was  sharp  and  bloody.  But  Lafayette,  discovering  the 
mistake,  ordered  a  retreat,  which  was  made  with  precipitation, 
leaving  two  pieces  of  cannon  in  the  hands  of  the  British.  The 
Americans  retired  behind  a  morass,  and  it  being  nearly  dark,  Corn- 
wallis,  suspecting  an  ambuscade,  ordered  no  pursuit.  In  this 
encounter  the  Americans  had  one  hundred  and  eighteen  men,  in 
cluding  ten  officers,  killed,  wounded,  or  taken  prisoners.  The  loss 
of  the  British  was  not  so  great,  amounting  to  five  officers  and  about 
seventy  privates.  In  the  course  of  the  night  the  British  passed  into 
the  island ;  whence  they  soon  afterwards  proceeded  to  Portsmouth. 
The  troops  required  by  the  British  commander-in-chief  were 
embarked  ;  but,  before  they  sailed,  despatches  arrived  counter 
manding  the  order.  At  the  same  time  the  commander-in-chief 
deprecated  the  thought  of  abandoning  the  Chesapeake,  stating,  that 
as  soon  as  the  season  for  military  operations  in  that  quarter  returned, 
he  would  probably  send  thither  all  the  disposable  troops  under  his 
command,  and  recommending  the  establishment  of  a  defensive  post 
for  the  reception  of  ships  of  the  line,  either  at  York,  or  the  river  of 
that  name,  or  at  Point  Comfort  in  Hampton  Road.  Cornwallis 
ordered,  accordingly,  Point  Comfort  and  York  to  be  surveyed  by 
engineers  and  officers  of  the  navy,  from  whose  report  it  appeared 
that  works  constructed  on  Old  Point  Comfort  could  neither  defend 
the  entrance  into  Hampton  Road,  nor  afford  protection  to  ships 
lying  there  ;  and  as  it  was  admitted  that  Portsmouth  was  not  a 
station  of  the  description  required,  Corn\vallis  thought  his  instruc 
tions  left  him  no  alternative  but  to  fortify  York  and  Gloucester,  as 
the  only  points  capable  of  affording  the  requisite  protection  to  ships 
of  the  line.  Measures  were  accordingly  taken  for  seizing  and  for 
tifying  those  places,  and  for  evacuating  Portsmouth.  Part  of  the 
army  proceeded,  in  boats  and  transports,  up  the  Chesapeake  and 
York  river,  and  on  the  1st  of  August,  took  possession  of  Yorktown 
and  Gloucester  Point,  the  former  on  the  south,  the  latter  on  the  north 
side  of  the  river.  The  evacuation  of  Portsmouth  was  completed  ; 
and  on  the  22d  the  British  force  in  Virginia  concentrated  at  York 
and  Gloucester. 


AID   FROM   FRANCE.  427 

Here  we  shall  leave  Cornwallis  and  his  army  diligently  for 
tifying  themselves,  and  turn,  for  a  while,  our  attention  to  the  north 
ward. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  year,  the  affairs  of  Congress  wore  a  gloomy 
and  alarming  aspect :  the  finances  were  exhausted,  the  troops 
mutinous,  the  army  much  diminished  in  numbers,  and  the  soldiers 
who  remained  with  the  standards  of  their  country  were  in  a  state 
of  utter  destitution.  The  necessity  of  a  foreign  loan  and  of  European 
auxiliaries  was  obvious  ;  and  an  early  application  for  both  had  been 
made  to  France.  But  however  well  disposed  that  power  was  to 
grant  the  desired  assistance,  compliance  was  no  easy  matter ;  for 
the  treasury  had  enough  to  do  in  answering  the  national  demands 
necessaril/  made  on  it,  and  was  little  able  to  supply  foreign  wants. 
As  a  signal  proof  of  friendship,  however,  the  French  monarch  gave 
his  allies  a  donation  of  six  millions  of  livres,  and  promised  to  sup 
port  them  with  a  strong  naval  and  military  armament. 

Early  in  May,  the  Count  de  Barras,  who  had  been  appointed  to 
the  command  of  the  French  fleet  on  the  American  coast,  arrived  at 
Boston,  accompanied  by  the  Viscount  de  Rochambeau,  commander 
of  the  land  forces.  An  interview  between  General  Washington 
and  the  French  commanders  was  immediately  appointed  to  be  held 
at  Wethersfield,  three  miles  from  Hartford,  on  the  21st,  but  some 
movements  of  the  British  fleet  made  De  Barras  repair  to  Newport, 
while  the  two  generals  met  at  the  appointed  place,  and  agreed  on 
the  plan  of  the  campaign.  It  was  resolved  to  unite  the  French 
and  American  armies  on  the  Hudson,  and  to  commence  vigorous 
operations  against  New  York.  The  regular  army  at  that  station 
was  estimated  at  only  forty-five  hundred  men  ;  and  though  Sir 
Henry  Clinton  might  be  able  to  reinforce  it  with  five  thousand  or 
six  thousand  militia,  yet  it  was  believed  he  could  not  maintain  the 
post  without  recalling  a  considerable  part  of  the  troops  from  the 
southward,  and  enfeebling  the  operations  of  the  British  in  that 
quarter ;  in  which  case  it  was  resolved  to  make  a  vigorous  attack 
on  the  point  which  promised  the  best  prospect  of  success. 

General  Washington  immediately  required  the  states  of  New 
England  to  have  six  thousand  militia  in  readiness  to  march,  when 
ever  they  might  be  called  for ;  and  sent  an  account  of  the  con 
ference  at  Wethersfield  to  Congress.  His  despatch  was  intercepted 
in  the  Jerseys  and  carried  to  Sir  Henry  Clinton  ;  who,  alarmed  by 
the  plan  which  it  disclosed,  made  the  requisition,  already  men 
tioned,  of  part  of  the  troops  under  Cornwallis,  and  took  diligent 
precaution  for  maintaining  his  post  against  the  meditated  attack. 


428  LIFE   OF  WASHINGTON. 

When  the  American  troops  left  their  winter  quarters  in  the 
month  of  June,  and  encamped  at  Peekskill,  the  army  under  Wash 
ington  did  not  amount  to  five  thousand  men.  This  force  was  so 
much  inferior  to  what  had  been  contemplated  wrhen  the  plan  of 
operations  was  agreed  on  at  Wethersfield,  that*it  became  doubtful 
whether  it  would  be  expedient  to  adhere  to  that  plan.  But  the 
deficiency  of  the  American  force  was  in  some  measure  compen 
sated  by  the  arrival  at  Boston  of  a  reinforcement  of  fifteen  hundred 
men  to  the  army  under  Count  Rochambeau. 

The  hope  of  terminating  the  war  in  the  course  of  the  campaign, 
encouraged  the  states  to  make  some  exertions.  Small  as  was  their 
military  force,  it  was  difficult  to  find  subsistence  for  their  troops  ; 
and,  even  after  the  army  had  taken  the  field,  there  was*  reason  to 
apprehend  that  it  would  be  obliged  to  abandon  the  objects  of  the 
campaign  for  want  of  provisions.  In  that  critical  juncture  of  Ame 
rican  affairs,  when  the  government  was  without  money  and  without 
credit,  the  finances  of  the  Union  were  intrusted  to  Mr.  Robert 
Morris,  a  member  of  Congress  from  Pennsylvania,  a  man  of  con 
siderable  capital,  and  of  much  sagacity  and  mercantile  enterprise. 
He  extensively  pledged  his  personal  credit  for  articles  of  the  first 
necessity  to  the  army  ;  and  by  an  honourable  fulfilment  of  his  en 
gagements,  did  much  to  restore  public  credit  and  confidence.  It 
was  owing  mainly  to  his  exertions  that  the  active  and  decisive 
operations  of  the  campaign  were  not  greatly  impeded,  or  entirely 
defeated,  by  want  of  subsistence  to  the  army,  and  of  the  means  of 
transporting  military  stores. 

It  was  Mr.  Morris  who  planned  the  national  bank  of  $400,000. 
Its  notes  were  to  be  received  as  cash  into  the  treasury  of  the  seve 
ral  states,  and  also  as  an  equivalent  for  the  necessaries  which  the 
states  were  bound  to  provide  for  the  army.  In  this  way,  and  by  a 
liberal  and  judicious  application  of  his  own  resources,  an  indivi 
dual  afforded  the  supplies  which  government  was  unable  to  fur 
nish. 

The  French  troops  marched  from  Newport  and  Boston  towards 
the  Hudson.  Both  in  quarters  and  on  the  route  their  behaviour 
was  exemplary,  and  gained  the  respect  and  good  will  of  the  inha 
bitants.  Towards  the  end  of  June,  General  Washington  put  his 
army  in  motion  ;  and  learning  that  a  royal  detachment  had  passed 
into  the  Jerseys,  he  formed  a  plan  to  surprise  the  British  posts  on 
the  north  end  of  York  Island  ;  but  it  did  not  succeed  ;  and  Gene 
ral  Lincoln,  who  commanded  the  Americans,  being  attacked  by  a 
strong  British  party,  a  sharp  conflict  ensued.  General  Washing- 


POSITION    OF   THE    ARMIES.  429 

ton  marched  with  his  main  body  to  support  his  detachment,  but 
on  his  advance  the  British  retired  into  their  works  at  Kings- 
bridge. 

Having  failed  in  his  design  of  surprising  the  British  posts,  Gene 
ral  Washington  withdrew  to  Valentine's  Hill,  and  afterwards  to 
Dobbs's  Ferry.  While  encamped  there,  on  the  6th  of  July,  the  van 
of  the  long-expected  French  reinforcements  was  seen  winding 
down  the  neighbouring  heights.  The  arrival  of  these  friendly 
strangers  elevated  the  minds  of  the  Americans,  who  received  them 
with  sincere  congratulations.  General  Washington  laboured  by 
personal  attentions  to  conciliate  the  good  will  of  his  allies,  and 
used  all  the  means  in  his  power  to  prevent  those  mutual  jealousies 
and  irritations  which  frequently  prevail  between  troops  of  different 
nations,  serving  in  the  same  army.  An  attack  on  New  York  was 
still  meditated,  and  every  exertion  made  to  prepare  for  its  execu 
tion  ;  but  with  the  determination,  if  it  should  prove  impracticable, 
vigorously  to  prosecute  some  more  attainable  object. 

On  the  evening  of  the  21st  of  July,  the  greater  part  of  the  Ame 
rican,  and  part  of  the  French  troops  left  their  encampment ;  and 
marching  rapidly  during  the  night,  appeared  in  order  of  battle  be 
fore  the  British  works  at  Kingsbridge,  at  four  the  next  morning. 
Generals  Washington  and  Rochambeau,  with  the  general  officers 
and  engineers,  viewed  the  British  lines,  in  their  whole  extent, 
from  right  to  left,  and  the  same  was  done  again  next  morning. 
But  on  the  afternoon  of  the  23d  they  returned  to  their  former 
encampment,  without  having  made  any  attempt  on  the  British 
works. 

At  that  time  the  new  levies  arrived  slowly  in  the  American 
camp  ;  and  many  of  those  who  were  sent  were  mere  boys,  utterly 
unfit  for  active  service.  The  several  states  discovered  much  back 
wardness  in  complying  with  the  requisitions  of  Congress,  so  that 
there  was  reason  to  apprehend  that  the  number  of  troops  necessary 
for  besieging  New  York  could  not  be  procured.  This  made  Gene 
ral  Washington  turn  his  thoughts  more  seriously  to  the  southward 
than  he  had  hitherto  done  :  but  all  his  movements  confirmed  Sir 
Henry  Clinton  in  the  belief  that  an  attack  on  New  York  was  in 
contemplation.  As  the  British  commander-in-chief,  however,  at 
that  time,  received  about  three  thousand  troops  from  Europe,  he 
thought  himself  able  to  defend  his  post,  without  withdrawing  any 
part  of  the  force  from  Virginia.  Therefore  he  countermanded  the 
requisition  which  he  had  before  sent  to  Cornwallis  for  part  of  the 
troops  under  his  command.  The  troops  were  embarked  before  the 


430  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

arrival  of  the  counter  order ;  and  of  their  embarkation  Lafayette 
sent  notice  to  General  Washington.  On  the  reception  of  new 
instructions,  however,  as  before  stated,  they  were  re-landed,  and 
remained  in  Virginia. 

No  great,  operation  could  be  undertaken  against  the  British  ar 
mies,  so  long  as  their  navy  had  the  undisputed  command  of  the 
coast  and  of  the  great  navigable  rivers.  The  Americans  had  ac 
cordingly  made  an  earnest  application  to  the  court  of  France  for 
such  a  fleet  as  might  be  capable  of  keeping  in  check  the  British 
navy  in  those  seas,  and  of  affording  effectual  assistance  to  the 
land  forces.  That  application  was  not  unsuccessful,  and,  to 
wards  the  middle  of  August,  the  agreeable  information  was  re 
ceived  of  the  approach  of  a  powerful  French  fleet  to  the  American 
coast. 

Early  in  March,  the  Count  de  Grasse  sailed  from  Brest  with 
twenty-five  ships  of  the  line,  five  of  which  were  destined  for  the 
East,  and  twenty  for  the  West  Indies.  After  an  indecisive  en 
counter  in  the  Straits  of  St.  Lucie  with  Sir  Samuel  Hood,  whom 
Sir  George  Rodney,  the  British  admiral  in  the  West  Indies,  had 
detached  to  intercept  him,  Count  de  Grasse  formed  a  junction 
with  the  French  vessels  on  that  station,  and  had  a  fleet  superior  to 
that  of  the  British  in  the  West  Indies.  De  Grasse  gave  the  Ame 
ricans  notice  that  he  would  visit  their  coast  in  the  month  of  Au 
gust,  and  take  his  station  in  Chesapeake  Bay ;  but  that  his  con 
tinuance  there  could  only  be  of  short  duration.  This  despatch  at 
once  determined  General  Washington's  resolution  with  respect  to 
the  main  point  of  attack ;  and  as  it  was  necessary  that  the  pro 
jected  operation  should  be  accomplished  within  a  very  limited  time, 
prompt  decision  and  indefatigable  exertion  were  indispensable. 
Though  it  was  now  finally  resolved  that  Virginia  should  be  the 
scene  of  action,  yet  it  was  prudent  to  conceal  to  the  last  moment 
this  determination  from  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  and  still  to  maintain 
the  appearance  of  threatening  New  York. 

The  defence  of  the  strong  posts  on  the  Hudson  River  was  in 
trusted  to  General  Heath,  who  was  instructed  to  protect  the  adja 
cent  country  as  far  as  he  was  able  ;  and  for  that  purpose  a  respect 
able  force  was  put  under  his  command.  Every  preparation  of 
which  circumstances  admitted  wras  made  to  facilitate  the  march  to 
the  southward.  General  Washington  was  to  take  the  command 
of  the  expedition,  and  to  employ  in  it  all  the  French  troops,  and  a 
strong  detachment  of  the  American  army. 

On  the  19th   of  August,  a  considerable  force  was  ordered  to 


MARCH    INTO    VIRGINIA.  431 

cross  the  Hudson,  at  Dobbs's  Ferry,  and  take  a  position  between 
Springfield  and  Chatham,  where  they  were  directed  to  cover  some 
bake-houses,  which,  it  was  rumoured,  were  to  be  immediately  con 
structed  in  the  vicinity  of  those  places,  in  order  to  encourage  the  be 
lief  that  there  the  troops  intended  to  establish  a  permanent  post.  On 
the  20th  and  21st,  the  main  body  of  the  Americans  passed  the  river 
at  King's  Ferry  :  but  the  French  made  a  longer  circuit,  and  did 
not  complete  the  passage  until  the  25th.  Desirous  of  concealing 
his  object  as  long  as  possible,  General  Washington  continued  his 
march  some  time  in  such  a  direction  as  still  to  keep  up  the  ap 
pearance  of  threatening  New  York.  When  concealment  was  no 
longer  practicable,  he  marched  southward  with  the  utmost  ce 
lerity.  His  movements  had  been  of  such  a  doubtful  nature,  that 
Sir  Henry  Clinton,  it  is  said,  was  not  convinced  of  his  real  desti 
nation  till  he  crossed  the  Delaware. 

Great  exertions  had  been  made  to  procure  funds  for  putting*  the 
army  in  motion  :  but,  after  exhausting  every  other  means,  General 
Washington  was  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  Count  Rochambeau 
for  a  supply  of  cash,  which  he  received. 

On  the  30th  of  August,  at  three  in  the  afternoon,  the  combined 
American  and  French  armies  entered  Philadelphia,  where  they 
were  received  with  ringing  of  bells,  firing  of  guns,  bonfires,  illumi 
nations  at  night,  and  every  demonstration  of  joy.  Meanwhile, 
Count  de  Grasse,  with  three  thousand  troops  on  board,  sailed  from 
Cape  Francois  with  a  valuable  fleet  of  merchantmen,  which  he 
conducted  out  of  danger,  and  then  steered  for  Chesapeake  Bay, 
with  twenty-eight  sail  of  the  line  and  several  frigates. 

Towards  the  end  of  August,  he  cast  anchor  just  within  the  capes, 
extending  across  from  Cape  Henry  to  the  middle  ground.  There 
an  officer  from  Lafayette  waited  on  the  count,  and  gave  him  full 
information  concerning  the  state  of  affairs  in  Virginia,  and  the 
intended  plan  of  operations  against  the  British  army  in  that  state. 

Cornwallis  was  diligently  for  ifying  himself  at  York  and  Glou 
cester.  Lafayette  was  in  a  position  on  James  River  to  prevent  his 
escape  into  North  Carolina,  and  the  combined  army  was  hastening 
southward  to  attack  him.  In  order  to  co-operate  against  Cornwallis, 
De  Grasse  detached  four  ships  of  the  line  and  some  frigates  to  block 
up  the  entrance  to  York  River,  and  to  carry  the  land  forces,  which 
he  had  brought  with  him  under  St.  Simon,  to  Lafayette's  camp. 
The  rest  of  his  fleet  remained  at  the  entrance  of  the  bay. 

Sir  George  Rodney,  who  commanded  the  British  fleet  in  the 
West  Indies,  was  not  ignorant  that  the  count  intended  to  sail  for 


432  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

America ;  but,  knowing  that  the  merchant  vessels  which  he  con 
veyed  from  Cape  Francois  were  loaded  with  valuable  cargoes,  the 
British  admiral  believed  that  he  would  send  the  greater  part  of  his 
fleet  along  with  them  to  Europe,  and  would  visit  the  American  coast 
with  a  small  squadron  only.  Accordingly,  »Sir  George  Rodney 
detached  Sir  Samuel  Hood,  with  fourteen  sail  of  the  line  to  America, 
as  a  sufficient  force  to  counteract  the  operations  of  the  French  in 
that  quarter.  Admiral  Hood  reached  the  capes  of  Virginia  on  the 
25th  of  August,  a  few  days  before  De  Grasse  entered  the  bay :  and, 
finding  no  enemy  there,  sailed  for  Sandy  Hook,  where  he  arrived 
on  the  28th  of  August. 

Admiral  Graves,  who  had  succeeded  Admiral  Arbuthnot  in  the 
command  of  the  British  fleet  on  the  American  station,  was  then 
lying  at  New  York  with  seven  sail  of  the  line  ;  but  two  of  his  ships 
had  been  damaged  in  a  cruise  near  Boston,  and  were  under  repair. 
At  the  same  time  that  Admiral  Hood  gave  information  of  the 
expected  arrival  of  De  Grasse  on  the  American  coast,  notice  was 
received  of  the  sailing  of  De  Barras  with  his  fleet  from  Newport. 
Admiral  Graves,  therefore,  without  waiting  for  his  two  ships  which 
were  under  repair,  put  to  sea  on  the  31st  of  August,  with  nineteen 
sail  of  the  line,  and  steered  to  the  southward. 

On  reaching  the  capes  of  the  Chesapeake,  early  on  the  morning 
of  the  5th  of  September,  he  discovered  the  French  fleet,  consisting 
of  twenty-four  ships  of  the  line,  lying  at  anchor  at  the  entrance  of 
the  bay.  Neither  admiral  had  any  previous  knowledge  of  the 
vicinity  of  the  other  till  the  fleets  were  actually  seen.  The  British 
stretched  into  the  bay,  and  as  soon  as  De  Grasse  ascertained  their 
hostile  character,  he  ordered  his  ships  to  slip  their  cables,  form  the 
line  as  they  could  come  up,  without  regard  to  their  specified  sta 
tions,  and  put  to  sea.  The  British  fleet  entering  the  bay,  afrd  the 
French  fleet  leaving  it,  they  were  necessarily  sailing  in  different 
directions ;  but  Admiral  Graves  put  his  ships  on  the  same  tack  as 
the  French  ;  and  about  four  in  the  afternoon,  a  battle  began  between 
the  van  and  centre  of  the  fleets,  which  continued  till  night.  Both 
sustained  considerable  damage. 

The  fleets  continued  in  sight  of  each  other  for  five  days  ;  but  De 
Grasse's  object  was  not  to  fight  unless  to  cover  Chesapeake  Bay ; 
and  Admiral  Graves,  owing  to  the  inferiority  of  his  force  and  the 
crippled  state  of  several  of  his  ships,  was  unable  to  compel  him  to 
renew  the  engagement. 

On  the  10th,  De  Grasse  bore  away  for  the  Chesapeake,  and 
anchored  within  the  capes  next  day,  when  he  had  the  satisfaction 


TAKING    OF    NEW    LONDON.  433 

to  find  that  Admiral  de  Barras  with  his  fleet  from  Newport  and  four* 
teen  transports,  laden  with  heavy  artillery  and  other  military  stores 
for  carrying  on  a  siege,  had  safely  arrived  during  his  absence. 

That  officer  sailed  from  Newport  on  the  25th  of  August,  and 
making  a  long  circuit  to  avoid  the  British,  entered  the  bay,  while 
the  contending  fleets  were  at  sea.  Admiral  Graves  followed  the 
French  fleet  to  the  Chesapeake ;  but  on  arriving  there,  he  found  the 
entrance  guarded  by  a  force  with  which  he  was  unable  to  contend. 
He  then  sailed  for  New  York,  and  left  De  Grasse  in  the  undisputed 
possession  of  the  bay. 

While  these  naval  operations  were  going  on,  the  land  forces 
were  not  less  actively  employed  in  the  prosecution  of  their  respective 
purposes.  The  immediate  aim  of  the  one  party  was  to  overwhelm 
Cornwallis  and  his  army  at  Yorktown,  and  that  of  the  other  to  res 
cue  him  from  their  grasp.  As  soon  as  Sir  Henry  Clinton  was  con 
vinced  of  General  Washington's  intention  of  proceeding  to  the 
southward,  with  a  view  to  bring  him  back,  he  employed  Arnold, 
with  a  sufficient  naval  and  military  force,  on  an  expedition  against 
New  London.  Arnold  passed  from  Long  Island,  and  on  the  fore* 
noon  of  the  6th  of  September  landed  his  troops  on  both  sides  of 
the  harbour  ;  those  on  the  New  London  side  being  under  his  own 
immediate  orders,  and  those  on  the  Groton  side  commanded  by 
Lieutenant-colonel  Eyre.  As  the  works  at  New  London  were  very 
imperfect,  no  vigorous  resistance  was  made,  and  the  place  was 
taken  possession  of  with  little  loss.  But  Fort  Griswold,  on  the 
Groton  side,  was  in  a  more  finished  state,  and  the  small  garrison 
made  a  desperate  defence.  The  British  entered  the  fort  at  the 
point  of  the  bayonet ;  when,  though  opposition  had  ceased,  a  mur 
derous  carnage  ensued.  Few  Americans  had  fallen  before  the 
British  entered  the  works ;  but  eighty-five  were  killed,  sixty 
wounded,  most  of  them  mortally,  and  the  remainder,  seventy  in 
number,  were  made  prisoners.  The  loss  of  the  British  was  consi 
derable.  A  great  quantity  of  valuable  property  was  destroyed  and 
the  town  much  injured. 

The  loss  sustained  by  the  Americans  at  New  London  was  great ; 
but  that  predatory  excursion  had  no  effect  in  diverting  General 
Washington  from  his  purpose,  or  in  retarding  his  march  southward. 
From  Philadelphia  the  allied  armies  pursued  their  route,  partly  to 
the  head  of  Elk  River,  which  falls  into  the  northern  extremity  of 
Chesapeake  Bay,  and  partly  to  Baltimore,  at  which  places  thev 
embarked  on  board  transports  furnished  by  the  French  fleet,  and 
the  last  division  of  them  landed  at  WTilliamsburg,  on  the  25th  of 
55  2O 


434  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

September.  General  Washington,  Rochambeau,  and  their  attend 
ants,  proceeded  to  the  same  place  by  land,  and  reached  it  ten  days 
before  the  troops.  Virginia  had  suffered  extremely  in  the  course 
of  the  campaign  ;  the  inhabitants  were  clamorous  for  the  appear 
ance  of  the  commander-in-chief  in  his  nativ"e  state,  and  hailed  his 
arrival  with  acclamations  of  joy. 

Generals  Washington  and  Rochambeau  immediately  repaired  on 
board  De  Grasse's  ship,  in  order  to  concert  a  joint  plan  of  operations 
against  Cornwallis.  De  Grasse,  convinced  that  every  exertion 
would  be  made  to  relieve  his  lordship,  and  being  told  that  Admiral 
Digby  had  arrived  at  New  York  with  a  reinforcement  of  six  ships 
of  the  line,  expected  to  be  attacked  by  a  force  little  inferior  to  his 
own ;  and  deeming  the  station  which  he  then  occupied  unfavour 
able  to  a  naval  engagement,  he  was  strongly  inclined  to  leave  the 
bay,  and  to  meet  the  enemy  in  the  open  sea. 

General  Washington,  fully  aware  of  all  the  casualties  which  might 
occur  to  prevent  his  return,  and  to  defeat  the  previous  arrangements, 
used  every  argument  to  dissuade  the  French  admiral  from  his  pur 
pose,  and  prevailed  with  him  to  remain  in  the  bay. 

As  De  Grasse  could  continue  only  a  short  time  on  that  station, 
every  exertion  was  made  to  proceed  against  Cornwallis  at  York- 
town,  a  small  village  on  the  southern  bank  of  York  River,  in 
which  ships  of  the  line  can  ride  with  perfect  safety.  A  long  pen 
insular  tract  of  land,  only  eight  miles  broad,  lies  between  James 
and  York  rivers.  Opposite  Yorktown  is  Gloucester  Point,  which 
projects  considerably  into  the  river,  the  breadth  of  which  at  that 
place  does  not  exceed  a  mile.  Cornwallis  had  taken  possession 
of  both  these  places,  and  diligently  fortified  them.  The  communi 
cation  between  them  was  commanded  by  his  batteries,  and  by 
some  ships  of  war  which  lay  in  the  river  under  cover  of  his  guns. 
The  main  body  of  his  army  was  encamped  near  Yorktown,  beyond 
some  outer  redoubts  and  field-works,  calculated  to  retard  the  ap 
proach  of  an  enemy.  Colonel  Tarleton,  with  six  hundred  or  seven 
hundred  men,  occupied  Gloucester  Point. 

The  combined  army,  amounting  to  upwards  of  eleven  thousand 
men,  exclusive  of  the  Virginia  militia,  was  assembled  in  the  vici 
nity  of  Williamsburgh  ;  and,  on  the  morning  qf  the  28th  of  Sep 
tember,  marched  by  different  routes  towards  Yorktown.  About 
mid-day,  the  heads  of  the  columns  reached  the  ground  assigned 
them  ;  and,  after  driving  in  the  outposts  and  some  cavalry, 
encamped  for  the  night.  The  next  day  was  employed  in  viewing 
he  British  works,  and  in  arranging  the  plan  of  attack.  At  the 


INVESTMENT   OF   YORKTOWN.  437 

same  time  that  the  combined  army  encamped  before  Yorktown,  the 
French  fleet  anchored  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  completely 
prevented  the  British  from  escaping  by  water,  as  well  as  from  re 
ceiving  supplies  or  reinforcements  in  that  way.  The  legion  of 
Lauzun  and  a  brigade  of  militia,  amounting  to  upwards  of  four 
thousand  men,  commanded  by  the  French  general  De  Choisie,  were 
sent  across  the  river  to  watch  Gloucester  Point,  and  to  enclose  the 
British  on  that  side. 

On  the  30th,  Yorktown  was  invested.  The  French  troops  formed 
the  left  wing  of  the  combined  army,  extending  from  the  river  above 
the  town  to  a  morass  in  front  of  it ;  the  Americans  composed  the 
right  wing,  and  occupied  the  ground  between  the  morass  and  the 
river  below  the  town.  Till  the  6th  of  October,  the  besieging  army 
was  assiduously  employed  in  disembarking  its  heavy  artillery  and 
military  stores,  and  in  conveying  them  to  camp  from  the  landing 
place  in  James  River,  a  distance  of  six  miles. 

On  the  night  of  the  6th,  the  first  parallel  was  begun,  six  hundred 
yards  from  the  British  works.  The  night  was  dark,  rainy,  and 
well  adapted  for  such  a  service  ;  and  in  the  course  of  it  the 
besiegers  did  not  lose  a  man.  Their  operations  seem  not  to  have 
been  suspected  by  the  besieged  till  daylight  disclosed  them  in  the 
morning,  when  the  trenches  were  so  far  advanced  as  in  a  good 
measure  to  cover  the  workmen  from  the  fire  of  the  garrison.  By 
the  afternoon  of  the  9th,  the  batteries  were  completed,  notwith 
standing  the  most  strenuous  opposition  from  the  besieged  ;  and  im 
mediately  opened  on  the  town.  From  that  time  an  incessant  can 
nonade  was  kept  up  ;  and  the  continual  discharge  of  shot  and 
shells  from  twenty-four  and  eighteen-pounders,  and  ten-inch  mor 
tars,  damaged  the  unfinished  works  on  the  left  of  the  town,  silenced 
the  guns  mounted  on  them,  and  occasioned  a  considerable  loss  of 
men.  Some  of  the  shot  and  shells  from  the  batteries  passed  over 
the  town,  reached  the  shipping  in  the  harbour,  and  set  on  fire  the 
Charon  of  forty-four  guns,  and  three  large  transports,  which  were 
entirely  consumed.* 

The  succeeding  operations  of  the  siege  are  very  graphically 
described  by  Dr.  Thatcher,  one  of  the  surgeons  of  the  army,  in  the 
following  extract  from  his  Military  Journal : — 

«  The  duty  of  our  troops  has  been  for  several  days  extremely 
severe  ;  our  regiment  labours  in  the  trenches  every  other  day  and 
night,  where  I  find  it  difficult  to  avoid  suffering  by  the  cold,  having 
no  other  covering  than  a  single  blanket  in  an  open  field.  We 

*  Western  World. 


438  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

erected  a  battery  last  night  in  front  of  our  first  parallel,  without  any 
annoyance  from  the  enemy.  Two  or  three  of  our  batteries  being 
now  prepared  to  open  on  the  town,  his  excellency  General 
Washington  put  the  match  to  the  first  gun,  and  a  furious  discharge 
of  cannon  and  mortars  immediately  followed,  and  Earl  Cornwallis 
has  received  his  first  salutation. 

"  From  the  10th  to  the  15th,  a  tremendous  and  incessant  firing 
from  the  American  and  French  batteries  is  kept  up,  and  the  enemy 
return  the  fire,  but  with  little  effect.  A  red-hot  shell  from  the 
French  battery  set  fire  to  the  Charon,  a  British  44  gun  ship,  and 
two  or  three  smaller  vessels  at  anchor  in  the  river,  which  were  con 
sumed  in  the  night.  From  the  bank  of  the  river,  I  had  a  fine  view 
of  this  splendid  conflagration.  The  ships  were  enwrapped  in  a 
torrent  of  fire,  which  spreading  with  vivid  brightness  among  the 
combustible  rigging,  and  running  with  amazing  rapidity  to  the 
tops  of  the  several  masts,  while  all  around  was  thunder  and  light 
ning  from  our  numerous  cannon  and  mortars,  and  in  the  darkness 
of  the  night,  presented  one  of  the  most  sublime  and  magnificent 
spectacles  which  can  be  imagined.  Some  of  our  shells,  overreach 
ing  the  town,  are  seen  to  fall  into  the  river,  and  bursting,  throw  up 
columns  of  water  like  the  spoutings  of  the  monsters  of  the  deep. 
We  have  now  made  further  approaches  to  the  town,  by  throwing  up 
a  second  parallel  line  and  batteries  within  about  three  hundred 
yards ;  this  was  effected  in  the  night,  and  at  daylight  the  enemy 
were  roused  to  the  greatest  exertions,  the  engines  of  war  have 
raged  with  redoubled  fury  and  destruction  on  both  sides,  no  cessa 
tion  day  or  night.  The  French  had  two  officers  wounded,  and 
fifteen  men  killed  or  wounded,  and  among  the  Americans  two  or 
three  were  wounded.  I  assisted  in  amputating  a  man's  thigh. 
The  siege  is  daily  becoming  more  and  more  formidable  and  alarm 
ing,  and  his  lordship  must  view  his  situation  as  extremely  critical, 
if  not  desperate.  Being  in  the  trenches  every  other  day  and  night, 
I  have  a  fine  opportunity  of  witnessing  the  sublime  and  stupendous 
scene  which  is  continually  exhibiting.  The  bomb-shells  from  the 
besiegers  and  the  besieged  are  incessantly  crossing  each  other's 
path  in  the  air.  They  are  clearly  visible  in  the  form  of  a  black 
ball  in  the  day  ;  but  in  the  night,  they  appear  like  fiery  meteors 
with  blazing  tails,  most  beautifully  brilliant,  ascending  majesti 
cally  from  the  mortar  to  a  certain  altitude,  arid  gradually  descend 
ing  to  the  spot  where  they  are  destined  to  execute  their  work  of 
destruction.  It  is  astonishing  with  what  accuracy  an  experienced 
gunner  will  make  his  calculations,  that  a  shell  shall  fall  within  a 


SIEGE   OF    YORKTOWN.  439 

few  feet  of  a  given,point,  and  burst  at  the  precise  time,  though  at 
a  great  distance.  When  a  shell  falls,  it  whirls  round,  burrows, 
and  excavates  the  earth  to  a  considerable  extent,  and  bursting, 
makes  dreadful  havoc  around. 

"I  have  more  than  once  witnessed  fragments  of  the  mangled 
bodies  and  limbs  of  the  British  soldiers  thrown  into  the  air  by  the 
bursting  of  our  shells  ;  and  by  one  from  the  enemy,  Captain  White, 
of  the  seventh  Massachusetts  regiment,  and  one  soldier  were  killed, 
and  another  wounded  near  where  I  was  standing.  About  twelve 
or  fourteen  men  have  been  killed  or  wounded  within  twenty-four 
hours  ;  I  attended  at  the  hospital,  amputated  a  man's  arm,  and 
assisted  in  dressing  a  number  of  wounds.  The  enemy  having  two 
redoubts  about  three  hundred  yards  in  front  of  their  principal 
works,  enfiladed  our  entrenchment  and  impeded  our  approaches ; 
it  was  resolved  to  take  possession  of  them  both  by  assault.  The 
one  on  the  left  of  the  British  garrison,  bordering  on  the  banks  of  the 
river,  was  assigned  to  our  brigade  of  light  infantry,  under  the  com 
mand  of  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette.  The  advanced  corps  was  led 
on  by  the  intrepid  Colonel  Hamilton,  who  had  commanded  a  regi 
ment  of  light  infantry  during  the  campaign,  and  assisted  by  Colonel 
Gimat.  The  assault  commenced  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
and  the  assailants  bravely  entered  the  fort  with  the  point  of  the 
bayonet  without  firing  a  single  gun.  We  suffered  the  loss  of  eight 
men  killed,  and  about  thirty  wounded,  among  whom  Colonel 
Gimat  received  a  slight  wound  in  his  foot,  and  Major  Gibbs,  of 
his  excellency's  guard,  and  two  other  officers,  were  slightly 
wounded.  Major  Campbell,  who  commanded  in  the  fort,  was 
wounded  and  taken  pri>oner,  with  about  thirty  soldiers  ;  the  re 
mainder  made  their  escape.  I  was  desired  to  visit  the  wounded 
in  the  fort,  even  before  their  balls  had  ceased  whistling  about  my 
ears,  and  saw  a  sergeant  and  eight  men  dead  in  the  ditch.  A 
captain  of  our  infantry,  belonging  to  New  Hampshire,  threatened 
to  take  the  life  of  Major  Campbell  to  avenge  the  death  of  his 
favourite,  Colonel  Scammel ;  but  Colonel  Hamilton  interposed,  and 
not  a  man  was  killed  after  he  had  ceased  to  resist.  During  the 
assault,  the  British  kept  up  an  incessant  firing  of  cannon  and  mus 
ketry  from  their  whole  line. 

"  His  excellency  General  Washington,  Generals  Lincoln  and 
Knox,  with  their  aids,  having  dismounted,  were  standing  in  an 
exposed  situation,  waiting  the  result.  Colonel  Cobb,  one  of  Gene 
ral  Washington's  aids,  solicitous  for  his  safety,  said  to  his  excel 
lency,  « Sir,  you  are  too  much  exposed  here,  had  you  not  better 


440  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

step  a  little  back  ?'  <  Colonel  Cobb,'  replied  his  excellency, 
«  if  you  are  afraid,  you  have  liberty  to  step  back.'  The  other 
redoubt,  on  the  right  of  the  British  lines,  was  assaulted  at  the 
same  time  by  a  detachment  of  the  French,  commanded  by  the  gal 
lant  Baron  de  Viominel.  Such  was  the  ardour  displayed  by  the 
assailants,  that  all  resistance  was  soon  overcome,  though  at  the 
expense  of  nearly  one  hundred  men  killed  and  wounded.  Of  the 
defenders  of  the  redoubt,  eighteen  were  killed,  and  one  captain 
and  two  subaltern  officers,  and  forty-two  rank  and  file,  captured. 
Our  second  parallel  line  was  immediately  connected  with  the  two 
redoubts  now  taken  from  the  enemy,  and  some  new  batteries  were 
thrown  up  in  front  of  our  second  parallel  line,  with  a  covert  way 
and  angling  work,  approaching  to  less  than  three  hundred  yards 
of  their  principal  forts.  These  will  soon  be  mantled  with  cannon 
and  mortars,  and  when  their  horrid  thundering  commences,  it 
must  convince  his  lordship,  that  his  post  is  not  invincible,  and 
that  submission  must  soon  be  his  only  alternative.  Our  artillery 
men,  by  the  exactness  of  their  aim,  make  every  discharge  take 
effect,  so  that  many  of  the  enemy's  guns  are  entirely  silenced, 
and  their  works  are  almost  in  ruins. 

"  16th. — A  party  of  the  enemy,  consisting  of  about  four  hundred 
men,  commanded  by  Colonel  Abercrombie,  about  four  in  the 
morning,  made  a  vigorous  sortie  against  two  unfinished  redoubts 
occupied  by  the  French.  They  spiked  up  seven  or  eight  pieces 
of  cannon,  and  killed  several  soldiers;  but  the  French  advanced 
and  drove  them  from  the  redoubts,  leaving  several  killed  and 
wounded.  Our  New  England  troops  here  have  become  very 
sickly ;  the  prevalent  diseases  are  intermittent  and  remittent  fevers, 
which  are  very  prevalent  in  the  climate  during  the  autumnal 
months. 

«  17th. — The  whole  of  our  works  are  now  mounted  with  can 
non  and  mortars ;  not  less  than  one  hundred  pieces  of  heavy  ord 
nance  have  been  in  continual  operation  during  the  last  twenty-four 
hours. 

"The  whole  peninsula  trembles  under  the  incessant  thunder- 
ings  of  our  infernal  machines  ;  we  have  levelled  some  of  their 
works  in  ruins,  and  silenced  their  guns  ;  they  have  almost  ceased 
firing. 

"  We  are  so  near  as  to  have  a  distinct  view  of  the  dreadful 
havoc  and  destruction  of  their  works,  and  even  see  the  men  in 
their  lines  torn  to  pieces  by  the  bursting  of  the  shells.  But  the 
scene  is  drawing  to  a  close.  Lord  Cornwallis,  realizing,  at  length, 


SIEGE    OF    YORKTOWN.  441 

the  extreme  hazard  of  his  deplorable  situation,  and  finding  it  in 
vain  any  longer  to  resist,  has,  this  forenoon,  come  to  the  humili 
ating  expedient  of  sending  out  a  flag,  requesting  a  cassation  of 
hostilities  for  twenty-four  hours,  that  commissioners  may  be  ap 
pointed  to  prepare  and  adjust  the  terms  of  capitulation.  Two  or 
three  flags  passed  in  the  course  of  the  day,  and  General  Washing 
ton  consented  to  a  cessation  of  hostilities  for  two  hours  only,  that 
his  lordship  may  suggest  his  proposals  for  a  treaty,  which  being  in 
part  accepted,  a  suspension  of  hostilities  will  be  continued  until 
to-morrow. 

"  18th. — It  is  now  ascertained  that  Lord  Cornwallis,  to  avoid 
the  necessity  of  a  surrender,  had  determined  on  the  bold  attempt 
to  make  his  escape  in  the  night  of  the  16th,  with  a  part  of  his 
army,  into  the  country.  His  plan  was  to  leave  sick  and  baggage 
behind,  and  to  cross  with  his  effective  force  over  to  Gloucester 
Point,  there  to  destroy  the  French  legion  and  other  troops,  and  to 
mount  his  infantry  on  their  horses,  and  such  others  as  might  be 
procured,  and  push  their  way  to  New  York  by  land.  A  more  pre 
posterous  and  desperate  attempt  can  scarcely  be  imagined.  Boats 
were  secretly  prepared,  arrangements  made,  and  a  large  proportion 
of  his  troops  actually  embarked,  and  landed  on  Gloucester  Point, 
when,  from  a  moderate  and  calm  evening,  a  most  violent  storm  of 
wind  and  rain  ensued.  The  boats  with  the  remaining  troops  \vere 
all  driven  down  the  river,  and- it  was  not  till  the  next  day  that  his 
troops  could  be  returned  to  the  garrison  at  York.  At  an  early  hour 
this  forenoon,  General  Washington  communicated  to  Lord  Corn 
wallis  the  general  basis  of  the  terms  of  capitulation  which  he 
deemed  admissible,  and  allowed  two  hours  for  his  reply.  Com 
missioners  were  soon  after  appointed  to  prepare  the  particular 
terms  of  agreement.  The  gentlemen  appointed  by  General  Wash 
ington  are  Colonel  Laurens,  one  of  his  aids-de-camp,  and  Viscount 
de  Noailles,  of  the  French  army.  They  have  this  day  held  an  in 
terview  with  the  British  officers  on  the  part  of  Lord  Cornwallis  ; 
the  terms  of  capitulation  are  settled  ;  and  being  confirmed  by  the 
commanders  of  both  armies,  the  royal  troops  are  to  march  out 
to-morrow  and  surrender  their  arms.  It  is  a  circumstance  deserv 
ing  of  remark,  that  Colonel  Laurens,  who  is  stipulating  for  the  sur 
render  of  a  British  nobleman,  at  the  head  of  a  royal  army,  is  the 
son  of  Mr.  Henry  Laurens,  our  ambassador  to  Holland,  who,  being 
captured  on  his  voyage,  is  now  in  close  confinement  in  the  Tower 
of  London." 

Cornwallis,  on  the  19th  of  October,  surrendered  the  posts  of 
56 


442  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

Yorktown  and  Gloucester  Point  to  the  combined  armies  of  Ame 
rica  and  France,  on  condition  that  his  troops  should  receive  the 
same  honours  of  war  which  had  been  granted  to  the  garrison  of 
Charleston,  when  it  surrendered  to  Sir  Henry  Clinton.  The  army, 
artillery,  arms,  accoutrements,  military  chest,  and  public  stores  of 
every  description,  were  surrendered  to  Washington ;  the  ships  in 
the  harbour,  and  the  seamen,  to  Count  de  Grasse. 

Cornwallis  wished  to  obtain  permission  for  his  European  troops 
to  return  home,  on  condition  of  not  serving  against  America, 
France,  or  their  allies,  during  the  war,  but  this  was  refused  ;  and 
it  was  agreed  that  they  should  remain  prisoners  of  war  in  Vir 
ginia,  Maryland,  and  Pennsylvania,  accompanied  by  a  due  propor 
tion  of  officers,  for  their  protection  and  government.  The  British 
general  was  also  desirous  of  securing  from  punishment  such  Ameri 
cans  as  had  joined  the  royal  standard ;  but  this  was  refused,  on 
the  plea  that  it  was  a  point  which  belonged  to  the  civil  authority, 
and  on  which  the  military  power  was  not  competent  to  decide. 
But  the  end  was  gained  in  an  indirect  wray  ;  for  Cornwallis  was 
permitted  to  send  the  Bonetta  sloop  of  war,  unsearched,  to  New 
York,  with  despatches  to  the  commander-in-chief,  and  to  put  on 
board  as  many  soldiers  as  he  thought  proper  to  be  accounted  for 
in  any  subsequent  exchange.  This  was  understood  to  be  a  tacit 
permission  to  send  off  the  most  obnoxious  of  the  Americans, 
which  was  accordingly  done. 

The  officers  and  soldiers  were  allowed  to  retain  their  private 
property.  Such  officers  as  were  not  required  to  remain  with  the 
troops,  were  permitted  to  return  to  Europe,  or  to  reside  in  any 
part  of  America  not  in  possession  of  British  troops.  A  consider 
able  number  of  negro  slaves  had  fled  from  their  masters,  and  gone 
over  to  the  royal  army  :  these  the  Americans  resolved  to  recover  ; 
but  deeming  it  indecorous  to  demand  the  restitution  of  slaves, 
while  they  themselves  were  fighting  for  liberty,  they  expressed 
their  claim  in  general  language,  and  stipulated  that  any  property 
obviously  belonging  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  states  should  be  sub 
ject  to  be  reclaimed.  The  garrison  marched  out  of  the  town  with 
colours  cased,  and  with  the  drums  beating  a  British  or  German 
march.  General  Lincoln  was  appointed  to  receive  the  surrender, 
in  precisely  the  same  way  in  which  his  own  had  been  received  at 
Charleston.  Exclusive  of  seamen,  nearly  seven  thousand  persons 
surrendered,  about  four  thousand  of  whom  were  fit  for  duty.  Dur 
ing  the  siege,  the  garrison  lost,  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing, 
five  hundred  and  fifty-two  men. 


THE 


V 


Sji/FORK\*jX 


SURRENDER    OF    CORNWALLIS.  445 

By  the  surrender  of  the  posts  of  Yorktown  and  Gloucester 
Point,  the  Americans  gained  possession  of  a  large  train  of  artil 
lery,  consisting  of  seventy-five  brass,  and  sixty-nine  iron  cannon, 
howitzers  and  mortars,  with  a  considerable  quantity  of  arms, 
ammunition,  military  stores,  and  provisions.  One  frigate,  two 
ships,  of  twenty  guns  each,  a  number  of  transports,  and  other 
vessels,  and  fifteen  hundred  and  one  seamen,  surrendered  to  Count 
de  Grasse,  his  most  Christian  majesty's  admiral.  The  combined 
army  at  Yorktown  may  be  estimated  at  sixteen  thousand  men  ; 
consisting  of  seven  thousand  French,  five  thousand  five  hundred 
continentals,  and  three  thousand  five  hundred  militia.  Their 
loss  during  the  siege  amounted  to  about  three  hundred  killed  and 
wounded. 

General  Washington  felt  all  the  importance  of  the  conquest 
which  he  had  achieved.  His  troops  had  displayed  indefatigable 
industry,  joined  with  much  bravery ;  and,  in  general  orders  of  the 
20th,  he  acknowledged  their  merits,  thanking  all  the  officers  and 
men  for  their  services.  The  engineers  and  artillery-men  had  par 
ticularly  distinguished  themselves,  and  were  mentioned  in  terms 
of  high  commendation.  The  general  offered  his  best  acknow 
ledgments  to  Count  de  Rochambeau  and  his  officers  and  men  ; 
the  important  co-operation  of  Count  de  Grasse  was  also  duly  ap 
preciated.  The  capture  of  Cornwallis  and  his  army  raised  the 
shout  of  triumph  and  joy  throughout  America,  particularly  in  Vir 
ginia  :  it  was  like  the  exultation  of  a  pastoral  people  over  the 
death  of  a  lion  which  had  cruelly  ravaged  their  flocks,  and  spread 
terror  through  their  dwellings. 

The  attack  on  Cornwallis  was  conceived  in  the  true  spirit  of 
military  enterprise  ;  but  a  concurrence  of  many  favourable  circum 
stances  was  necessary  in  order  to  its  successful  execution.  It  was 
a  combined  effort  by  sea  and  land,  carried  on  by  different  leaders, 
and  liable  to  the  uncertainty  of  winds  and  waves.  Superiority  by 
sea  was  indispensably  requisite ;  and  the  whole  scheme  \vas  endan 
gered  by  the  appearance  of  Admiral  Hood,  at  Chesapeake  Bay. 
The  arrival  of  De  Barras,  the  return  of  De  Grasse  after  his  encounter 
with  Admiral  Hood,  all  combined  against  the  British,  who,  after 
behaving  like  brave  men,  were  compelled  to  surrender  themselves 
prisoners  of  wrar. 

Sir  Henry  Clinton  was  not  ignorant  of  the  perilous  situation  of 
Cornwallis,  and  was  anxious  to  relieve  him  ;  but  the  fleet  had  sus 
tained  considerable  damage  in  the  battle  with  De  Grasse,  and  some 
time  was  necessarily  spent  in  repairing  it.  During  that  interval 

2P 


446  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

four  ships  of  the  line  arrived  from  Europe,  and  two  from  the  West 
Indies.  At  length,  the  commander-in-chief  embarked  with  seven 
thousand  of  his  best  troops,  but  was  unable  to  sail  from  Sandy 
Hook  till  the  19th,  the  day  on  which  Cornwallis  surrendered.  The 
fleet,  consisting  of  twenty-five  ships  of  the  line?  two  vessels  of  fifty 
guns  each,  and  eight  frigates,  arrived  off  the  Chesapeake  on  the 
24th,  when  the  commander-in-chief  had  the  mortification  to  be 
informed  of  the  event  of  the  19th. 

He  remained  on  the  coast,  however,  till  the  29th,  when  every 
doubt  being  removed  concerning  the  capitulation  of  Cornwallis, 
whose  relief  was  the  sole  object  of  the  expedition,  he  returned  to 
New  York. 

While  Sir  Henry  Clinton  continued  off  the  Chesapeake,  the 
French  fleet,  consisting  of  thirty-six  sail  of  the  line,  satisfied  with 
the  advantage  already  gained,  lay  at  anchor  in  the  bay  without 
making  any  movement  whatever.  The  grand  error  of  the  British, 
in  the  whole  of  this  transaction,  was  th;j  not  sending  a  larger  fleet 
from  the  West  Indies  than  that  which  sailed  under  Admiral  Hood. 

Washington  used  all  his  influence  to  detain  Count  de  Grasse 
some  time  longer  on  the  coast,  to  assist  in  the  reduction  of  Charles 
ton  ;  but  the  orders  of  his  court,  ulterior  projects,  and  his  engage 
ments  with  the  Spaniards,  put  it  out  of  the  power  of  the  French 
admiral  to  continue  so  long  in  America  as  was  required.  He, 
however,  remained  some  days  in  the  bay,  in  order  to  cover  the  em 
barkation  of  the  troops  and  of  the  ordnance  to  be  conveyed  by  water 
to  the  head  of  the  Elk.  Some  brigades  proceeded  by  land  to  join 
their  companions  at  that  place.  Some  cavalry  marched  to  join 
General  Greene  ;  but  the  French  troops,  under  Count  de  Rocham- 
beau,  remained  in  Virginia,  to  be  in  readiness  to  march  to  the  south 
or  north,  as  the  circumstances  of  the  next  campaign  might  require. 
On  the  27th,  the  troops  of  St.  Simon  began  to  embark,  in  order  to 
return  to  the  West  Indies;  and  early  in  November,  Count  de  Grasse 
sailed  for  that  quarter.  Washington  proceeded  to  Philadelphia, 
where  he  arrived  on  the  27th  of  November. 

The  capture  of  Cornwallis  was  the  most  decisive  event  of  the 
war.  The  military  operations  in  America  were  afterwards  desul 
tory  and  languid  ;  few  in  number,  and  unimportant  in  their  nature; 
injurious  or  fatal,  indeed,  to  individuals,  but  of  little  public  advan 
tage  or  loss  to  either  of  the  contending  parties. 

While  Washington  was  marching  against  Cornwallis,  the  loyal 
ists  of  North  Carolina,  under  McNeill  and  McDougall,  made  them 
selves  masters  of  Hillsborough,  and  took  a  number  of  prisoners. 


EFFECT    OF    THE    SURRENDER.  447 

McNeill  and  some  of  his  followers  were  killed  in  an  encounter  with 
the  Americans.  McDougall  was  pursued,  but  effected  his  escape 
with  a  number  of  prisoners  to  Wilmington. 

Late  in  October,  Major  Ross  made  an  incursion  into  the  country 
on  the  Mohawk  at  the  head  of  five  hundred  men,  regulars,  rangers, 
and  Indians.  Colonel  Willett,  with  about  an  equal  force,  found  him 
at  Johnstown.  An  engagement  ensued,  when  part  of  the  Americans 
fled  without  any  apparent  cause  ;  but  as  the  rest  maintained  their 
ground,  the  British  retreated.  Willett,  with  a  select  party,  pursued 
them;  and  on  the  morning  of  the  30th,  overtook  their  rear  at  a  ford 
on  Canada  Creek.  He  immediately  attacked  them,  killed  a  num 
ber,  and  put  the  rest  to  flight.  Among  the  slain  was  Walter  Butler, 
who  perpetrated  the  massacre  at  Cherry  Valley.  He  asked  quarter, 
but  was  reminded  of  Cherry  Valley  and  instantly  despatched. 

The  convention  of  Saratoga  was  a  severe  blow  to  the  British 
arms  ;  but  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown  was  still  more 
decisive.  It  produced  a  great  change  in  America,  and  gave  a  new 
and  more  cheering  aspect  to  the  affairs  of  the  Union.  In  the  early 
part  of  the  year,  the  cause  of  the  States  was  in  a  drooping  condi 
tion,  and  American  freedom  seemed  verging  to  ruin.  Congress 
was  surrounded  with  embarrassments,  and  victory  had  fled  from 
their  standards.  The  success  of  Morgan  at  the  Cowpens,  and  the 
exertions  of  Greene,  dissipated  the  gloom  in  the  south  ;  but  in  the 
middle  and  northern  provinces  nothing  had  occurred  to  awaken 
hope  and  stimulate  exertion.  The  capture,  then  fore,  of  Cornwallis 
and  his  army,  which  was  achieved  by  a  remarkable  coincidence  of 
good  conduct  and  fortunate  circumstances,  altered  the  face  of  things. 
Congress,  the  state  governments,  and  all  classes  of  people,  exulted 
with  joy.  A  brighter  sun  shone  on  their  heads,  elevated  their  hopes, 
and  invigorated  their  exertions.  The  clamours  of  the  discontented 
were  silenced,  the  hearts  of  the  desponding  re-animated,  and  the 
wavering  confirmed  in  their  attachment  to  the  Union.  A  new  im 
pulse  was  given  to  the  public  mind  ;  but,  above  all,  the  ray  of 
peace,  which  seemed  now  to  burst  through  the  gloom  of  war,  was 
grateful  to  their  souls. 

If  the  effects  of  the  surrender  at  Yorktown  were  great  in  Ame 
rica,  they  were  not  less  so  in  Europe.  The  government  and  people 
of  Britain  entertained  the  most  sanguine  hopes  from  the  operations 
of  the  army  in  Virginia.  The  expense  of  the  war  was  heavy,  and 
every  year  increasing.  The  people  murmured  under  the  load ;  but 
were  encouraged  to  bear  with  patience  in  the  hope  of  being  soon 
relieved,  and  ultimately  reimbursed  by  the  exclusive  trade  of  the 


448 


LIFE    OF   WASHINGTON. 


subjugated  provinces.  Many  flattered  themselves  that  the  cam 
paign  in  Virginia  would  annihilate  the  power  of  Congress,  and  put 
an  end  to  the  contest. 

In  the  midst  of  these  fond  anticipations,  the  news  of  the  surren 
der  at  Yorktown  arrived,  and  struck  both  the  ministry  and  people 
with  amazement  and  dismay.  The  blow  wras  equally  severe  and 
unexpected.  It  laid  their  towering  hopes  in  the  dust,  and  filled 
them  with  painful  apprehensions. 

Parliament  met  on  the  27th  of  November ;  and  after  a  protracted 
struggle  in  the  House  of  Commons,  on  the  27th  of  February,  the 
opposition  carried  an  address  against  the  prolongation  of  the  war 
in  America.  Previous  to  this,  Mr.  Henry  Laurens,  the  American 
ambassador  to  Holland,  who  had  been  captured  by  the  British  and 
confined  in  the  Tower  of  London,  was  released. 


LAFAYETTE  RETURNS  TO  FRANCE.     449 


» 


GENERA  I,      GREENE. 


CHAPTER    XX. 


HE  surrender  of  Cornwallis,  although  it 
was  the  event  which  ultimately  decided 
the  fate  of  the  war,  was  not  so  consi 
dered  at  the  time.  Washington  fully 
expected  another  campaign,  and  ac 
cordingly  urged  upon  Congress  the  ne 
cessary  preparations  for  rendering  it  an 
active  and  decisive  one.  The  military 
establishment  was,  therefore,  kept  up  ; 
the  states  were  called  upon  to  com 
plete  their  quotas  of  troops,  money  and  supplies  were  voted,  and 
Washington  was  directed  to  address  circular  letters  to  the  go 
vernors  of  all  the  states,  calling  for  money  and  troops,  and  reporting 
the  actual  condition  of  the  army. 

After  the  glorious  victory  at  Yorktown,  Lafayette,  believing  the 

favourable  termination  of  the  war  to  be  certain,  obtained  permission 

from  Congress  to  revisit  France.     He  bore  to  his  native  country 

ample  testimonials  of  his  services  from  Congress,  and  a  letter  to 

57  2r2 


450  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

the  king  of  France,  commending  him  warmly  to  the  favour  of  his 
sovereign. 

On  returning  to  the  camp  at  Newburg  in  April,  General  Wash 
ington  became  acquainted  with  one  of  those  painful  incidents  which 
result  from  the  infuriated  passions  engendered  oy  civil  commotions. 
It  was  reported  that  on  the  24th  of  March,  Captain  Huddy,  who 
commanded  the  troops  in  a  block-house  in  Monmouth  county,  New 
Jersey,  was  attacked,  overpowered,  and  made  prisoner,  by  a  party 
of  loyalists  from  New  York.  In  a  few  days,  he  was  taken  out  of 
the  city  by  a  party  of  refugees,  led  by  Captain  Lippincot,  and 
hanged,  with  a  label  on  his  breast,  declaring  that  he  was  put  to 
death  in  retaliation  for  some  of  their  brethren  who  had  suffered  a 
similar  fate.  Washington  took  up  the  matter  seriously ;  submitted 
it  to  his  officers,  laid  it  before  Congress,  and  wrote  to  the  Bri 
tish  general,  demanding  the  surrender  of  Captain  Lippincot,  and 
threatening  retaliation  in  case  of  refusal.  This  demand  not  being 
complied  with,  Washington  ordered  a  British  prisoner,  of  equal 
rank  with  Huddy,  to  be  chosen  by  lot  and  sent  to  Philadelphia, 
that  he  might  suffer  as  a  retaliatory  victim. 

The  lot  fell  on  Captain  Asgill,  an  English  youth,  of  only  nineteen 
years  of  age,  and  respectably  connected.  Great  interest  was  made 
to  save  the  life  of  this  young  gentleman  ;  he  was  ultimately  set  free, 
but  was  long  kept  in  a  state  of  painful  suspense. 

During  winter,  the  states  laboured  to  prepare  for  another  cam 
paign  ;  but,  owing  to  the  exhaustion  of  the  country,  and  the  back 
wardness  of  the  people  to  make  further  sacrifices,  the  preparations 
went  on  slowly.  Every  one  wished  to  devolve  the  burden  on  his 
neighbour,  and  every  state  seemed  afraid  of  bearing  more  than  its 
share  of  the  war.  Notwithstanding  the  late  success  in  the  southern 
states,  and  the  brilliant  issue  of  the  campaign  in  Virginia,  there 
was  much  disinclination  to  vigorous  exertions.  The  troops  were 
few  in  number,  and  almost  destitute  of  supplies.  Many  of  them 
were  almost  naked,  and  nearly  all  were  ill-fed.  Every  department 
was  without  money,  and  without  credit.  Discontent  was  general 
among  the  officers  and  soldiers,  and  severe  measures  were  neces 
sary  to  check  a  mutinous  spirit  in  the  army.  Fortunately  for 
America,  while  the  resources  of  Congress  were  exhausted  and 
every  thing  was  hastening  to  ruin,  the  people  of  Britain  also  had 
become  weary  of  the  war,  and  it  was  found  expedient  to  change 
the  ministry.  The  new  servants  of  the  crown  did  not  inherit  the 
military  propensities  of  their  predecessors,  but  were  inclined  to 
conciliation  and  peace. 


SIR    GUY    CARLETON    APPOINTED.  451 

The  discontents  in  the  army  at  this  period  of  inaction  and  ex 
haustion,  led  to  a  secret  combination  among  several  of  the  officers, 
who  imputed  the  defective  administration  of  the  national  affairs  to 
some  weakness  which  they  supposed  to  be  inherent  in  republican 
institutions.  They  even  went  so  far  as  to  appoint  one  of  their 
number  to  write  a  private  letter  to  Washington,  proposing  to  place 
him  at  the  head  of  affairs  with  the  title  of  KING.  That  such  a  pro 
position  might  have  been  carried  out  successfully  through  the 
agency  of  the  army,  is  rendered  probable  by  the  result  of  almost 
every  attempt  of  a  similar  nature  which  history  records.  But  it 
was  repelled  by  Washington  with  the  strongest  expressions  of 
abhorrence  ;  and  its  authors  were  reprehended  in  the  severest 
style,  in  the  reply  which  he  made  to  the  letter  of  the  officer  who 
had  acted  as  the  organ  of  the  malecontents.  His  stern  rebuke 
for  ever  silenced  the  aspirations  of  the  friends  of  royalty  in  the 
army. 

One  of  the  last  acts  of  the  late  administration  was  to  appoint  Sir 
Guy  Carleton,  afterwards  Lord  Dorchester,  commander-in-chief 
in  America,  in  the  room  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton ;  and  the  new 
ministry  continued  him  in  that  high  office.  He  took  the  command 
at  New  York  early  in  May ;  and  being  also,  in  conjunction  with 
Admiral  Digby,  appointed  a  commissioner  to  negotiate  a  peace,  he 
soon  communicated  to  Washington  copies  of  the  votes  of  parlia 
ment  respecting  peace ;  and  also  a  bill  which  had  been  introduced 
by  the  ministry  to  authorize  his  majesty  to  conclude  a  peace  with 
the  colonies  of  North  America ;  and  if  they  were  met  with  a  cor 
responding  temper,  both  inclination  and  duty  would  lead  him  to 
act  in  the  spirit  of  conciliation.  He  had  addressed  to  Congress, 
he  said,  a  letter  containing  the  same  communication  ;  and  he  re 
quested  of  Washington  a  passport  for  the  person  who  was  to 
deliver  it. 

Washington  immediately  forwarded  the  communications  to  Con 
gress  ;  but  as  the  bill  to  enable  the  king  to  conclude  peace  with 
America  had  not  then  passed  into  a  law  ;  and  as  there  was  no  as 
surance  that  the  present  commissioners  wrere  empowered  to  offer 
any  other  terms  than  those  which  were  already  rejected,  as  Con 
gress  was  suspicious  that  the  offers  were  merely  intended  to  amuse 
and  put  them  off  their  guard,  that  they  might  be  successfully 
attacked  when  reposing  in  security ;  aad  as  they  were  resolved  to 
enter  into  no  separate  treaty,  the  passport  was  refused.  Both 
armies,  therefore,  lay  inactive.  There  was  no  peace,  and  there 
was  no  war.  Sir  Guy  Carleton  undertook  no  offensive  operation; 


452  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

and  the  army  of  Washington  was  too  feeble  to  attack  New  York. 
On  the  Hudson,  the  summer  passed  away  in  inactivity. 

Early  in  August,  Washington  received  a  letter  from  Sir  Guy 
Carleton  and  Admiral  Digby,  informing  him  that  negotiations  for  a 
general  peace  were  begun  at  Paris ;  that  the  independence  of  the 
thirteen  United  States  would  be  acknowledged  ;  and  that  Mr. 
Laurens  was  set  at  liberty  ;  and  that  passports  were  preparing  for 
such  Americans  as  had  hitherto  been  detained  prisoners  in  Great 
Britain.  This  letter  was  soon  followed  by  another  from  Sir  Guy 
Carleton,  in  which  he  declared  that  he  no  longer  saw  any  object 
of  contest,  and  therefore  disapproved  of  the  continuance  of  hostili 
ties  either  by  sea  or  land,  as  tending  to  increase  the  miseries  of 
individuals,  without  any  public  advantage  to  either  party.  He 
added,  that  in  consequence  of  this  opinion,  he  had  restrained  the 
practice  of  detaching  Indian  parties  against  the  frontiers  of  the 
United  States,  and  had  recalled  those  who  were  in  the  field.  These 
communications  seem  to  have  awakened  the  jealousy  of  the  French 
minister  in  America  ;  and,  in  order  to  allay  his  suspicions,  Con 
gress  renewed  its  resolution  not  to  enter  into  any  discussion  for  a 
pacification  but  in  concert  with  his  most  Christian  majesty.* 

In  July,  the  French  army  in  Virginia  marched  northward,  and 
reached  the  states  of  New  England  in  October.  The  Marquis  de 
Vaudreuil  had  been  despatched  with  a  fleet  of  fifteen  sail  of  the 
line,  and  arrived  at  Boston  on  the  10th  of  August,  for  the  purpose 
of  transporting  them  to  the  West  Indies.  The  troops  sailed  from 
Boston  in  December,  after  having  remained  in  this  country  two 
years  and  a  half. 

Negotiations  for  a  general  peace  were  going  on  in  Paris,  but 
were  protracted  by  the  mutual  jealousies  and  interfering  claims  of 
the  several  parties  interested.  Great  Britain  admitted  the  inde 
pendence  of  the  thirteen  United  States,  and  thus  removed  a  great 
cause  of  the  wrar;  but  the  boundaries  of  the  states,  and  their  share 
in  the  fisheries  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland,  were  not  so  easily 
adjusted,  and  on  both  of  these,  France  and  Spain  seemed  unfavour 
able  to  the  wishes  of  America. 

After  a  tedious  and  intricate  negotiation,  in  which  the  firmness, 
judgment,  and  penetration  of  the  American  commissioners  were 
exercised,  preliminary  articles  of  peace  were  signed  on  the  30th 
of  November ;  and  news  of  the  conclusion  of  a  general  peace 
reached  the  United  States  early  next  April. 

A  line  running  through  the  middle  of  the  great  lakes  and  their 

*  Western  World. 


COMPLAINTS    OF   THE   ARMY.  453 

connecting  waters,  and  from  a  certain  point  on  the  St.  Lawrence 
to  the  bottom  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  was  agreed  to  as  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  states  ;  and  their  western  frontiers  was  to  rest  on 
the  Mississippi.  It  was  stipulated  that  the  British  creditors  should 
be  allowed  to  recover  their  debts  in  the  United  States ;  that  Con 
gress  should  recommend  to  the  several  states  the  restoration  of  the 
estates  of  the  real  British  subjects  which  had  been  confiscated 
during  the  war ;  and  that  no  further  confiscation  should  be  made. 

Meantime  the  army  under  General  Washington  remained  at  New- 
burg,  which  continued  to  be  the  head-quarters  till  it  was  disbanded. 
During  this  season  of  inaction,  the  officers  and  soldiers  had  leisure 
to  reflect  on  the  heartless  manner  in  which  their  just  claims  for 
compensation  had  been  slighted  by  Congress ;  and  on  the  bad 
prospect  they  had  of  experiencing  any  better  treatment  when  the 
restoration  of  peace  should  render  their  further  services  unneces 
sary. 

In  December,  soon  after  going  into  winter  quarters,  the  officers 
had  presented  a  petition  to  Congress  respecting  the  money  actually 
due  to  them,  and  proposing  a  commutation  of  the  half-pay  stipu 
lated  by  the  resolutions  of  October,  1780,  for  a  sum  in  gross,  which 
they  flattered  themselves  would  encounter  fewer  prejudices  than 
the  half-pay  establishment.  Some  security  that  the  engagements 
of  the  government  would  be  complied  with  was  also  requested.  A 
committee  of  officers  was  deputed  to  solicit  the  attention  of  Con 
gress  to  this  memorial,  and  to  attend  to  its  progress  through  the 
house. 

There  were  members  of  Congress  who  were  anxious  to  do  jus 
tice  to  the  army  ;  but  there  were  others  who  regarded  it  with  jea 
lousy  and  fear ;  and  were  perfectly  willing  to  evade  its  claims  by 
any  means  in  their  power.  Congress  was  also  in  a  divided  state 
with  regard  to  the  disposition  of  the  whole  public  debt,  some  mem 
bers  desiring  to  have  them  funded  on  solid  continental  security, 
while  others  preferred  the  state  system. 

In  consequence  of  these  divisions,  the  business  of  the  army 
advanced  slowly,  and  the  question  respecting  the  commutation  of 
their  half-pay  remained  undecided,  when  the  intelligence  was  re 
ceived  (March,  1783)  of  the  signature  of  the  preliminary  and 
eventual  articles  of  peace  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain. 

The  army,  soured  and  exasperated  by  neglect  and  injustice,  mani 
fested  an  uneasy  temper  which  might  easily  be  wrought  into  fearful 
activity.  Early  in  March,  a  letter  was  received  from  the  com- 


454  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

mittee  in  Philadelphia,  showing  that  the  objects  which  they  soli 
cited  had  not  been  obtained.  This  occasioned  a  meeting  of  the 
officers  on  the  10th  of  March,  « to  consider  the  late  letter  from 
their  representatives  in  Philadelphia,  and  what  measures  (if  any) 
should  be  adopted  to  obtain  that  redress  of  grievances  which  they 
seemed  to  have  solicited  in  vain." 

On  the  same  day  an  address  to  the  army  was  privately  circu 
lated,  which  was  intended  to  rouse  the  discontented  spirits  into 
open  rebellion  against  the  government.  It  was  in  the  following 
terms : — 

"  TO  THE  OFFICERS  OF  THE  ARMY. 

^GENTLEMEN, — A  fellow-soldier,  whose  interests  and  affections 
bind  him  strongly  to  you,  whose  past  sufferings  have  been  as  great, 
and  whose  future  fortunes  may  be  as  desperate  as  yours,  would 
beg  leave  to  address  you.  Age  has  its  claims,  and  rank  is  not 
without  its  pretensions  to  advise  ;  but  though  unsupported  by  both, 
he  flatters  himself  that  the  plain  language  of  sincerity  and  expe 
rience  will  neither  be  unheard  nor  unregarded. 

«  Like  many  of  you,  he  loved  private  life,  and  left  it  with  regret. 
He  left  it,  determined  to  retire  from  the  field,  with  the  necessity 
that  called  him  to  it,  and  not  till  then — not  till  the  enemies  of  his 
country,  the  slaves  of  power,  and  the  hirelings  of  injustice,  were 
compelled  to  acknowledge  America  as  terrible  in  arms  as  she  had 
been  humble  in  remonstrance.  With  this  object  in  view,  he  has 
long  shared  in  your  toils  and  mingled  in  your  danger.  He  has  felt 
the  cold  hand  of  poverty  without  a  murmur,  and  has  seen  the  inso 
lence  of  wealth  without  a  sigh.  But,  too  much  under  the  direction 
of  his  wishes,  and  sometimes  weak  enough  to  mistake  desire  for 
opinion,  he  has  till  lately,  very  lately,  believed  in  the  justice  of  his 
country.  He  hoped  that,  as  the  clouds  of  adversity  scattered,  and 
as  the  sunshine  of  peace  and  better  fortune  broke  in  upon  us,  the 
coldness  and  severity  of  government  would  relax,  and  that  more 
than  justice,  that  gratitude,  would  blaze  forth  upon  those  hands 
which  had  upheld  her  in  the  darkest  stages  of  her  passage  from 
impending  servitude  to  acknowledged  independence.  But  faith 
has  its  limits  as  well  as  temper  ;  and  there  are  points,  beyond 
which  neither  can  be  stretched  without  sinking  into  cowardice  or 
plunging  into  credulity.  This,  my  friends,  I  conceive  to  be  your 
situation.  Hurried  to  the  very  verge  of  both,  another  step  would 
ruin  you  for  ever.  To  be  tame,  or  unprovoked  when  injuries  press 
upon  you,  is  more  than  weakness  ;  but  to  look  up  for  kinder  usage, 


COMPLAINTS    OF    THE    ARMY.  455 

without  one  manly  effort  of  your  own,  would  fix  your  character, 
and  show  the  world  how  richly  you  deserve  the  chains  you  broke. 
To  guard  against  this  evil,  let  us  take  a*  review  of  the  ground  upon 
which  we  now  stand,  and  from  thence  carry  our  thoughts  forward 
for  a  moment  into  the  unexplored  field  of  expedient. 

«  After  a  pursuit  of  seven  long  years,  the  object  for  which  we 
set  out  is  at  length  brought  within  our  reach.  Yes,  my  friends, 
that  suffering  courage  of  yours  was  active  once — it  has  conducted 
the  United  States  of  America  through  a  doubtful  and  bloody  war  ; 
it  has  placed  her  in  the  chair  of  independence,  and  peace  returns 
again — to  bless  whom  ?  A  country  willing  to  redress  your  wrongs, 
cherish  your  worth,  and  reward  your  services  ?  A  country  court 
ing  your  return  to  private  life  with  tears  of  gratitude  and  smiles  of 
admiration  ;  longing  to  divide  with  you  the  independency  which 
your  gallantry  has  given,  and  those  riches  which  your  wounds 
have  preserved  ?  Is  this  the  case  ? — or  is  it  rather  a  country  that 
tramples  upon  your  rights,  disdains  your  cries,  and  insults  your 
distresses  ?  Have  you  not  more  than  once  suggested  your  wishes, 
and  made  known  your  wants  to  Congress? — wants  and  wishes 
which  gratitude  and  policy  should  have  anticipated,  rather  than 
evaded.  Andjiave  you  not,  lately,  in  the  meek  language  of  en 
treating  memorials,  begged  from  their  justice  what  you  could 
no  longer  expect  from  their  favour?  How  have  you  been  an 
swered  ?  Let  the  letter  which  you  are  called  to  consider  to-mor 
row,  reply. 

"If  this  then  be  your  treatment,  while  the  swords  you  wear  are 
necessary  for  the  defence  of  America,  what  have  you  to  expect 
from  peace,  when  your  voice  shall  sink,  and  your  strength  dissi 
pate  by  division  ;  when  those  very  swords,  the  instruments  and 
companions  of  your  glory,  shall  be  taken  from  your  sides,  and  no 
remaining  mark  of  military  distinction  left,  but  your  wrants,  in 
firmities,  and  scars  ?  Can  you  then  consent  to  be  the  only  suffer 
ers  by  this  Revolution  ;  and,  retiring  from  the  field,  grow  old  in 
poverty,  wretchedness  and  contempt  ?  Can  you  consent  to  wade 
through  the  vile  mire  of  dependency,  and  owe  the  miserable  rem 
nant  of  that  life  to  charity,  which  has  hitherto  been  spent  in  ho- 
.nour  ?  If  you  can,  go,  and  carry  with  you  the  jest  of  Tories,  and 
the  scorn  of  Whigs  ;  the  ridicule,  and  what  is  wrorse,  the  pity 
of  the  world.  Go,  starve,  and  be  forgotten  !  But,  if  your  spirit 
revolt  at  this  ;  if  you  have  sense  enough  to  discover,  and  spirit 
enough  to  oppose  tyranny,  under  whatever  garb  it  may  assume, 
whether  it  be  the  plain  coat  of  republicanism,  or  the  splendid  robe 


456  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

of  royalty  ;  if  you  have  yet  learned  to  discriminate  between  a  peo 
ple  and  a  cause,  between  men  and  principles,  awake — attend  to 
your  situation,  and  redress  yourselves  !  If  the  present  moment  be 
lost,  every  future  effort  is  in  vain,  and  your  threats,  then,  will  be 
as  empty  as  your  entreaties  now. 

"  I  would  advise  you,  therefore,  to  come  to  some  final  opinion 
upon  what  you  can  bear,  and  what  you  will  suffer.  If  your  deter 
mination  be  in  any  proportion  to  your  wrongs,  carry  your  appeal 
from  the  justice  to  the  fears  of  government.  Change  the  milk- 
and-water  style  of  your  last  memorial ;  assume  a  bolder  tone,  de 
cent,  but  lively,  spirited,  and  determined  ;  and  suspect  the  man 
who  would  advise  to  more  moderation  and  longer  forbearance. 
Let  two  or  three  men  who  can  feel,  as  well  as  write,  be  appointed, 
to  draw  up  your  last  remonstrance  ;  for  I  would  no  longer  give  it 
the  soft,  suing  name  of  memorial.  Let  it  be  represented  in  lan 
guage  that  will  neither  dishonour  you  by  its  rudeness,  nor  betray 
you  by  its  fears,  what  has  been  promised  by  Congress,  and  what 
has  been  performed  ;  how  long  and  how  patiently  you  have  suf 
fered  ;  how  little  you  have  asked,  and  how  much  of  that  little  has 
been  denied.  Tell  them,  that  though  you  were  the  first,  and 
would  wish  to  be  the  last,  to  encounter  danger  ;  though  despair 
itself  can  never  drive  you  into  dishonour,  it  may  drive  you  from 
the  field  ;  that  the  wound,  often  irritated,  and  never  healed,  may 
at  length  become  incurable,  and  that  the  slightest  mark  of  malig 
nity  from  Congress,  now,  must  operate  like  the  grave,  and  part 
you  for  ever.  That,  in  any  political  event,  the  army  has  its  alter 
native  :  if  peace,  that  nothing  shall  separate  you  from  your 
arms  but  death  ;  if  war,  that,  courting  the  auspices  and  inviting 
the  directions  of  your  illustrious  leader,  you  will  retire  to  some  un 
settled  country,  smite  in  your  turn,  and  «  mock  when  their  fear 
cometh  on.'  But  let  it  represent,  also,  that  should  they  comply 
with  the  request  of  your  late  memorial,  it  would  make  you  more 
happy,  and  them  more  respectable.  That  while  the  war  should 
continue,  you  would  follow  their  standard  into  the  field  ;  and 
when  it  came  to  an  end,  you  would  withdraw  into  the  shade  of 
private  life,  and  give  the  world  another  subject  of  wonder  and 
applause — an  army  victorious  over  its  enemies,  victorious  over 
itself." 

Persuaded,  says  Marshall,  as  the  officers  were  of  the  indisposi 
tion  of  government  to  remunerate  their  services,  this  eloquent  and 
impassioned  address,  dictated  by  genius  and  by  feeling,  found,  in 
almost  every  bosom,  a  kindred  though  latent  sentiment,  prepared 


COMPLAINTS    OF    THE    ARMY.  457 

to  receive  its  impression.  Quick  as  the  train  to  which  the  torch  is 
applied,  the  passions  caught  its  flame,  and  nothing  seemed  to  be 
required  but  the  assemblage  proposed  for  the  succeeding  day,  to 
communicate  the  conflagration  to  the  combustible  mass,  and  to 
produce  an  explosion  ruinous  to  the  army  and  to  the  nation.  For 
tunately,  the  commander-in-chief  was  in  camp.  His  characteristic 
firmness  and  decision  did  not  forsake  him  in  this  crisis.  The  oc 
casion  required  that  his  measures  should  be  firm,  but  prudent  and 
conciliatory — evincive  of  his  fixed  determination  to  oppose  any 
rash  proceedings,  but  calculated  to  assuage  the  irritation  which 
was  excited,  and  to  restore  confidence  in  government. 

Knowing  well  that  it  was  much  easier  to  avoid  intemperate  mea 
sures  than  to  correct  them,  he  thought  it  of  essential  importance  to 
prevent  the  immediate  meeting  of  the  officers  ;  but  knowing,  also, 
that  a  sense  of  injury  and  a  fear  of  injustice  had  made  a  deep  im 
pression  on  them,  and  that  their  sensibilities  were  all  alive  to  the 
proceedings  of  Congress  on  their  memorial,  he  thought  it  move 
advisable  to  guide  their  deliberations  on  that  interesting  subject, 
than  to  discountenance  them. 

With  these  views,  he  noticed,  in  his  orders,  the  anonymous 
paper,  proposing  a  meeting  of  the  officers,  and  expressed  his  con 
viction  that  their  good  sense  wrould  secure  them  from  paying  any 
«  attention  to  such  an  irregular  invitation  ;  but  his  own  duty,  he 
conceived,  as  well  as  the  reputation  and  true  interests  of  the  army, 
required  his  disapprobation  of  such  disorderly  proceedings.  At 
the  same  time  he  requested  the  general  and  field-officers,  with  one 
officer  from  each  company,  and  the  proper  representation  from  the 
staff  of  the  army,  to  assemble  at  twelve,  on  Saturday,  the  15th,  at 
the  new  building,  to  hear  the  report  of  the  committee  deputed  by 
the  army  to  Congress.  After  mature  deliberation,  they  will  de 
vise  what  further  measures  ought  to  be  adopted,  as  most  rational, 
and  best  calculated  to  obtain  the  just  and  important  object  in 
view."  The  senior  officer  in  rank  present  was  directed  to  pre 
side,  and  report  the  result  of  their  deliberations  to  the  commander- 
in- chief. 

The  next  day  a  second  anonymous  address  appeared  from  the 
same  writer  who  had  sent  forth  the  first.  He  effected  to  consider 
Washington's  orders  as  favourable  to  his  views,  as  "  giving  sys 
tem  to  their  proceedings  and  stability  to  their  resolves."  But 
Washington  took  care  to  explain  his  intentions  to  the  officers  in 
dividually,  and  to  exert  his  utmost  influence  in  preventing  hasty 
and  intemperate  measures.  This  was  by  no  means  an  easy  task  ; 
58  20, 


458  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

for  the  officers  were  fully  persuaded  of  the  design  of  the  govern 
ment  to  deal  unfairly  with  them,  and  it  was  only  their  reliance  on 
their  general,  and  their  attachment  to  his  person  and  character, 
which  could  induce  them  to  adopt  the  measures  which  he  recom 
mended.  • 

On  the.  15th,  the  convention  assembled,  and  General  Gates  took 
the  chair.  The  commander-in-chief  then  addressed  them  in  the 
following  terms  : 


"Gentlemen, — By  an  anonymous  summons  an  attempt  has  been 
made  to  convene  you  together ;  how  inconsistent  with  the  rules  of 
propriety,  how  unmilitary,  and  how  subversive  of  all  order  and 
discipline,  let  the  good  sense  of  the  army  decide.  In  the  moment 
of  this  summons,  another  anonymous  production  was  sent  into  cir 
culation,  addressed  more  to  the  feelings  and  passions  than  to 
the  judgment  of  the  army.  The  author  of  the  piece  is  entitled  to 
much  credit  for  the  goodness  of  his  pen,  and  I  could  wish  he  had 
as  much  credit  for  the  rectitude  of  his  heart ;  for,  as  men  see 
through  different  optics,  and  are  induced  by  the  reflecting  faculties 
of  the  mind  to  use  different  means  to  attain  the  same  end,  the  author 
of  the  address  should  have  had  more  charity  than  to  mark  for  suspi 
cion  the  man  who  should  recommend  moderation  and  longer  for 
bearance,  or,  in  other  words,  who  should  not  think  as  he  thinks, 
and  act  as  he  advises. 

"But  he  had  another  plan  in  view,  on  which  candour  and  libe 
rality  of  sentiment,  regard  to  justice,  and  love  of  country  has  no 
part ;  and  he  was  right  to  insinuate  the  darkest  suspicion  to  effect 
the  blackest  design.  That  the  address  was  drawn  with  great  art, 
and  is  designed  to  answer  the  most  insidious  purposes  :  that  it  is 
calculated  to  impress  the  mind  with  an  idea  of  premeditated  injus 
tice  in  the  sovereign  power  of  the  United  States,  and  rouse  all  the 
resentments  which  must  unavoidably  flow  from  such  a  belief;  that 
the  secret  mover  of  this  scheme,  whoever  he  may  be,  intended  to 
take  advantage  of  the  passions,  while  they  were  warmed  by  the 
recollection  of  past  distresses,  without  giving  time  for  cool,  deli 
berative  thinking,  and  that  composure  of  mind  which  is  so  necessary 
to  give  dignity  and  stability  to  measures,  is  rendered  too  obvious, 
by  the  mode  of  conducting  the  business,  to  need  other  proofs  than 
a  reference  to  the  proceedings. 

"Thus  much,  gentlemen,  I  have  thought  it  incumbent  on  me  to 
observe  to  you,  to  show  upon  what  principles  I  opposed  the  irregu- 


COMPLAINTS    OF    THE    ARMY.  459 

lar  and  hasty  meeting  which  was  proposed  to  have  been  held  on 
Tuesday  last,  and  not  because  I  wanted  a  disposition  to  give  you 
every  opportunity  consistent  with  your  own  honour  and  the  dignity 
of  the  army  to  make  known  your  grievances.  If  my  conduct, 
therefore,  has  not  evinced  to  you  that  I  have  been  a  faithful  friend 
to  the  army,  my  declaration  of  it  at  this  time  would  be  equally  im 
proper  and  unavailing.  But,  as  I  \vas  among  the  first  who  em 
barked  in  the  cause  of  our  common  country,  and  as  I  have  never 
left  your  side  one  moment,  but  when  called  on  public  duty  ;  and 
as  I  have  been  the  constant  companion  and  witness  of  your  dis 
tresses,  and  not  among  the  last  to  feel  and  acknowledge  your 
merits  ;  and  as  I  have  ever  considered  my  own  military  reputation 
as  inseparably  connected  with  that  of  the  army  ;  and  as  my  heart 
has  ever  expanded  with  joy  when  I  have  heard  its  praises,  and  my 
indignation  has  arisen  when  the  mouth  of  detraction  has  been 
opened  against  it,  it  can  scarcely  be  supposed  at  this  stage  of  the 
wrar,  that  I  am  indifferent  to  its  interests.  But,  how  are  they  to  be 
promoted  ?  The  way  is  plain,  says  the  anonymous  addresser. 
If  war  continues,  remove  into  the  unsettled  country ;  there  establish 
yourselves,  and  leave  an  ungrateful  country  to  defend  itself.  But 
who  are  they  to  defend  ?  Our  wives,  our  children,  our  farms,  and 
other  property  which  we  leave  behind  us?  or,  in  this  state  of  hos 
tile  preparation,  are  we  to  take  the  two  first  (the  latter  cannot  be 
removed)  to  perish  in  a  wilderness  with  cold,  hunger,  and  naked 
ness  ? 

"  If  peace  takes  place,  never  sheathe  your  swords,  says  he,  until 
you  have  obtained  full  and  ample  justice.  This  dreadful  alterna 
tive,  of  either  deserting  our  country  in  the  extremest  hour  of  her 
distress,  or  turning  our  arms  against  it,  which  is  the  apparent 
object,  unless  Congress  can  be  compelled  into  instant  compliance, 
has  .something  so  shocking  in  it  that  humanity  revolts  at  the  idea. 
My  God  !  what  can  this  writer  have  in  view  by  recommending  such 
measures  ?  Can  he  be  a  friend  to  the  army  ?  Can  he  be  a  friend 
to  this  country?  Rather,  is  he  not  an  insidious  foe?  some  emis 
sary,  perhaps  from  New  York,  plotting  the  ruin  of  both,  by  sowing 
the  seeds  of  discord  and  separation  between  the  civil  and  military 
powers  of  the  continent  ?  And  what  a  compliment  does  he  pay  to 
our  understandings,  when  he  recommends  measures,  in  either  alter 
native,  impracticable  in  their  nature. 

"But  here,  gentlemen,  I  will  drop  the  curtain,  because  it  would 
be  as  imprudent  in  me  to  assign  my  reasons  for  the  opinion,  as  it 
would  be  insulting  to  your  conception,  to  suppose  you  stood  in 


460  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

need  of  them.  A  moment's  reflection  will  convince  every  dispas 
sionate  mind  of  the  physical  impossibility  of  carrying  either  pro 
posal  into  execution. 

«  There  might,  gentlemen,  be  an  impropriety  in  my  taking  notice 
in  this  address  to  you,  of  an  anonymous  production  ;  but  the  man 
ner  in  which  that  performance  has  been  introduced  to  the  army, 
the  effect  which  it  was  intended  to  have,  together  with  some  other 
circumstances,  will  amply  justify  my  observation  on  the  tendency 
of  that  writing. 

«  With  respect  to  the  advice  given  by  the  author,  to  suspect  the 
man  who  shall  recommend  moderate  measures,  I  spurn  it,  as  every 
man  who  regards  that  liberty  and  reveres  that  justice  for  which  we 
contend,  undoubtedly  must ;  for,  if  men  are  to  be  precluded  from 
offering  their  sentiments  on  a  matter  which  may  involve  the  most 
serious  and  alarming  consequences  that  can  invite  the  considera 
tion  of  mankind,  reason  is  of  no  use  to  us  ;  the  freedom  of  speech 
may  be  taken  away,  and,  dumb  and  silent,  we  may  be  led  like 
sheep  to  the  slaughter.  I  cannot,  in  justice  to  my  own  belief,  and 
what  I  have  great  reason  to  conceive  is  the  intention  of  Congress, 
conclude  this  address  without  giving  it  as  my  decided  opinion,  that 
that  honourable  body  entertain  such  exalted  sentiments  of  the  ser 
vices  of  the  army,  and  from  a  full  conviction  of  its  merits  and 
its  sufferings  will  do  it  a  complete  justice.  That  their  endeavour 
to  discover  and  establish  funds  for  this  purpose  has  been  unwearied, 
and  will  not  cease  until  they  have  succeeded,  I  have  not  a  doubt ; 
but,  like  all  other  large  bodies,  where  there  is  a  variety  of  different 
interests  to  reconcile,  their  determinations  are  slow.  Why,  then, 
should  we  distrust  them  ;  and,  in  consequence  of  that  distrust, 
adopt  measures  which  may  cast  a  shade  over  that  glory  which  has 
been  so  justly  acquired,  and  tarnish  the  reputation  of  an  army 
which  is  celebrated  all  through  Europe  for  its  fortitude  and  patriot 
ism  ?  and  for  what  is  this  done  ?  To  bring  the  object  we  seek 
nearer  ?  No  :  most  certainly,  in  my  opinion,  it  will  cast  it  at  a 
greater  distance.  For  myself,  (and  I  take  no  merit  for  giving  the 
assurance,  being  induced  to  it  from  feelings  of  gratitude,  veracity, 
and  justice,  and  a  grateful  sense  of  the  confidence  you  have  ever 
placed  in  me,)  a  recollection  of  the  cheerful  assistance  and  prompt 
obedience  I  have  experienced  from  you  under  every  vicissitude  of 
fortune,  and  the  sincere  affection  I  feel  for  an  army  I  have  so  long 
had  the  honour  to  command,  will  oblige  me  to  declare,  in  this 
public  and  solemn  manner,  that  in  the  attainment  of  complete  jus 
tice  for  all  your  toils  and  dangers,  and  in  the  gratification  of  every 


COMPLAINTS    OF    THE    ARMY.  461 

wish,  so  far  as  can  be  done  consistently  with  the  great  duty  I  owe 
to  my  country,  and  those  powers  we  are  bound  to  respect,  you  may 
freely  command  my  services  to  the  utmost  extent  of  my  abilities. 

« While  I  give  you  my  assurances,  and  pledge  myself  in  the 
most  unequivocal  manner  to  exert  whatever  abilities  I  am  possessed 
of  in  your  favour;  let  me  entreat  you,  gentlemen,  on  your  part, 
not  to  take  any  measures  which,  viewed  in  the  calm  light  of  reason, 
will  lesson  the  dignity,  and  sully  the  glory  you  have  hitherto  main 
tained.  Let  me  request  you  to  rely  on  the  plighted  faith  of  your 
country,  and  place  a  full  confidence  in  the  purity  of  the  intentions 
of  Congress,  that,  previous  to  your  dissolution  as  an  army,  they 
will  cause  all  your  accounts  to  be  fairly  liquidated,  as  directed  in 
all  the  resolutions  which  were  published  to  you  two  days  ago  ;  and 
that  they  will  adopt  the  most  effectual  measures  in  their  power  to 
do  ample  justice  to  you  for  your  faithful  and  meritorious  services. 
And  let  me  conjure  you,  in  the  name  of  our  common  country,  as 
you  value  your  own  sacred  honour,  as  you  respect  the  rights  of 
humanity,  and  as  you  regard  the  military  and  national  character 
of  America,  to  express  your  utmost  horror  and  detestation  of  the 
man  who  wishes,  under  any  specious  pretence,  to  overturn  the 
liberties  of  our  country ;  and  who  wickedly  attempts  to  open  the 
flood-gates  of  civil  discord,  and  deluge  our  rising  empire  in  blood. 

"By  thus  determining,  and  thus  acting,  you  will  pursue  the 
plain  and  direct  road  to  the  attainment  of  your  wishes ;  you  will 
defeat  the  insidious  designs  of  your  enemies,  who  are  compelled  to 
resort  for  open  force  to  secret  artifice  ;  you  will  give  one  more 
distinguished  proof  of  unexampled  patriotism  and  patient  virtue 
rising  superior  to  the  pressure  of  the  most  complicated  sufferings ; 
and  you  will,  by  the  dignity  of  your  conduct,  afford  occasion  for 
posterity  to  say,  when  speaking  of  the  glorious  example  you  have 
exhibited  to  mankind — Had  this  day  been  wanting,  the  world  had 
never  soc-ii  the  last  stage  of  perfection  to  which  human  nature  is 
capable  of  attaining." 

That  eloquent  and  impassioned  production  greatly  increased  the 
sensation  which  had  before  existed ;  the  crisis  was  alarming. 
Even  in  the  army  of  a  firmly  established  government,  such  a  gene 
ral  spirit  of  dissatisfaction  would  have  been  unpleasant ;  but  in  a 
new,  feeble,  and  tottering  government,  and  in  an  army  ill-trained 
to  strict  subordination,  the  occurrence  was  far  more  formidable. 

The  effect  of  this  eloquent  appeal  was  irresistible.  No  person 
was  bold  enough  to  oppose  the  advice  of  Washington,  and  the 
general  impression  was  apparent.  A  resolution  was  passed  "as- 


462  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

suring  him  that  the  officers  reciprocated  his  affectionate  expressions 
with  the  greatest  sincerity  of  which  the  human  heart  is  capable. 
On  motion  of  General  Putnam,  a  committee  was  then  appointed  to 
prepare  resolutions  on  the  business  before  them,  which  were 
speedily  reported  and  adopted.  The  resolution^  were  as  follows : 

"  Resolved  unanimously,  that  at  the  commencement  of  the  pre 
sent  war,  the  officers  of  the  American  army  engaged  in  the  service 
of  their  country  from  the  purest  love  and  attachment  to  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  human  nature ;  which  motives  still  exist  in  the 
highest  degree  ;  and  that  no  circumstances  of  distress  or  danger 
shall  induce  a  conduct  that  may  tend  to  sully  the  reputation  and 
glory  which  they  have  acquired  at  the  price  of  their  blood,  and 
eight  years'  faithful  services, 

"  Resolved  unanimously,  that  the  army  continue  to  have  an  un 
shaken  confidence  in  the  justice  of  Congress  and  their  country, 
and  are  fully  convinced  that  the  representatives  of  America  will  not 
disband  or  disperse  the  army  until  their  accounts  are  liquidated, 
the  balances  accurately  ascertained,  and  adequate  funds  established 
for  payment ;  and  in  this  arrangement,  the  officers  expect  that  the 
half-pay,  or  a  commutation  for  it,  shall  be  efficaciously  compre 
hended. 

"  Resolved  unanimously,  that  his  excellency,  the  commander-in- 
chief,  be  requested  to  write  to  his  excellency  the  President  of  Con 
gress,  earnestly  entreating  the  most  speedy  decision  of  that 
honourable  body  upon  the  subject  of  our  late  address,  which  was 
forwarded  by  a  committee  of  the  army,  some  of  whom  are  waiting 
upon  Congress  for  the  result.  In  the  alternative  of  peace  or  war, 
this  event  would  be  highly  satisfactory,  and  would  produce  imme 
diate  tranquillity  in  the  minds  of  the  army,  and  prevent  any  farther 
machinations  of  designing  men,  to  sow  discord  between  the  civil 
and  military  powers  of  the  United  States. 

«  On  motion,  resolved  unanimously,  that  the  officers  of  the  Ame 
rican  army  view  with  abhorrence,  and  reject  with  disdain,  the 
infamous  propositions  contained  in  a  late  anonymous  address  to  the 
officers  of  the  army,  and  resent  with  indignation  the  secret  attempts 
of  some  unknown  person  to  collect  the  officers  together  in  a  man 
ner  totally  subversive  of  all  discipline  and  good  order. 

"  Resolved  unanimously,  that  the  thanks  of  the  officers  of  the 
army  be  given  to  the  committee  who  presented  to  Congress  the 
late  address  of  the  army  ;  for  the  wisdom  and  prudence  with  which 
they  have  conducted  that  business ;  and  that  a  copy  of  the  pro 
ceedings  of  this  day  be  transmitted  by  the  president  to  Major- 


COMPLAINTS    OF    THE    ARMY.  463 

general  M'Dougall ;  and  that  he  be  requested  to  continue  his 
solicitations  at  Congress  until  the  objects  of  his  mission  are  accom 
plished." 

Washington  having  thus,  by  his  great  personal  influence,  in 
duced  the  officers  to  present  their  claims  with  moderation  to  Con 
gress,  now  exerted  the  same  influence  in  support  of  their  applica 
tion.  The  following  letter  expresses  fully  his  views  and  feelings 
on  this  momentous  occasion. 

"  The  result  of  the  proceedings  of  the  grand  convention  of  the 
officers,  which  I  have  the  honour  of  enclosing  to  your  excellency 
for  the  inspection  of  Congress,  will,  I  flatter  myself,  be  considered 
as  the  last  glorious  proof  of  patriotism  which  could  have  been  given 
by  men  who  aspired  to  the  distinction  of  a  patriot  army ;  and  will 
not  only  confirm  their  claim  to  the  justice,  but  will  increase  their 
title  to  the  gratitude  of  their  country. 

"  Having  seen  the  proceedings  on  the  part  of  the  army  terminate 
with  perfect  unanimity,  and  in  a  manner  entirely  consonant  to  my 
wishes ;  being  impressed  with  the  liveliest  sentimems  of  affection 
for  those  who  have  so  long,  so  patiently,  and  so  cheerfully,  suffered 
and  fought  under  my  direction  ;  having,  from  motives  of  justice, 
duty,  and  gratitude,  spontaneously  offered  myself  as  an  advocate 
for  their  rights  ;  and  having  been  requested  to  write  to  your  excel 
lency,  earnestly  entreating  the  most  speedy  decision  of  Congress 
upon  the  subjects  of  the  late  address  from  the  army  to  that  honour 
able  body  ;  it  now  only  remains  for  me  to  perform  the  task  I  have 
assumed,  and  to  intercede  in  their  behalf,  as  I  now  do,  that  the 
sovereign  power  will  be  pleased  to  verify  the  predictions  I  have 
pronounced  of,  and  the  confidence  the  army  have  reposed  in,  the 
justice  of  their  country. 

«  And  here  I  humbly  conceive  it  is  altogether  unnecessary  (while 
I  am  pleading  the  cause  of  an  army  which  have  done  and  suffered 
more  than  any  other  army  ever  did  in  the  defence  of  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  human  nature)  to  expatiate  on  their  claims  to  the  most 
ample  compensation  for  their  meritorious  services,  because  they  are 
perfectly  known  to  the  whole  world,  and  because  (although  the 
topics  are  inexhaustible)  enough  has  already  been  said  on  the  sub 
ject.  To  prove  these  assertions,  to  evince  that  my  sentiments  have 
ever  been  uniform,  and  to  show  what  my  ideas  of  the  rewards  in 
question  have  always  been,  I  appeal  to  the  archives  of  Congress, 
and  call  on  those  sacred  deposits  to  witness  for  me.  And  in  order 
that  my  observations  and  arguments  in  favour  of  a  future  adequate 
provision  for  the  officers  of  the  army  may  be  brought  to  remem- 


464  LIFE    OF   WASHINGTON. 

brance  again,  and  considered  in  a  single  point  of  view,  without 
giving  Congress  the  trouble  of  having  recourse  to  their  files,  I  will 
beg  leave  to  transmit  herewith  an  extract  from  a  representation 
made  by  me  to  a  committee  of  Congress,  so  long  ago  as  the 
20th  of  January,  1778,  and  also  the  transcript  of  a  letter  to  the 
president  of  Congress,  dated  near  Passaic  falls,  October  the  1 1th, 
1780. 

"  That  in  the  critical  and  perilous  moment  when  the  last-men 
tioned  communication  was  made,  there  was  the  utmost  danger  a 
dissolution  of  the  army  would  have  taken  place  unless  measures 
similar  to  those  recommended  had  been  adopted,  will  not  admit  a 
doubt.  That  the  adoption  of  the  resolution  granting  half-pay  for 
life  has  been  attended  with  all  the  happy  consequences  I  foretold, 
so  far  as  respected  the  good  of  the  service,  let  the  astonishing  con 
trast  between  the  state  of  the  army  at  this  instant  and  at  the  former 
period  determine.  And  that  the  establishment  of  funds,  and  secu 
rity  of  the  payment  of  all  the  just  demands  of  the  army,  will  be  the 
most  certain  means  of  preserving  the  national  faith  and  future 
tranquillity  of  this  extensive  continent,  is  my  decided  opinion. 

"  By  the  preceding  remarks,  it  will  readily  be  imagined  that, 
instead  of  retracting  and  reprehending  (from  farther  experience  and 
reflection)  the  mode  of  compensation  so  strenuously  urged  in  the 
enclosures,  I  am  more  and  more  confirmed  in  the  sentiment ;  and 
if  in  the  wrong,  suffer  me  to  please  myself  in  the  grateful  delusion. 
For  if,  besides  the  simple  payment  of  their  wages,  a  farther  com 
pensation  is  not  due  to  the  sufferings  and  sacrifices  of  the  officers, 
then  have  I  been  mistaken  indeed.  If  the  whole  army  have  not 
merited  whatever  a  grateful  people  can  bestow,  then  have  I  been 
beguiled  by  prejudice,  and  built  opinion  on  the  basis  of  error.  If 
this  country  should  not  in  the  event  perform  every  thing  which  has 
been  requested  in  the  late  memorial  to  Congress,  then  will  my 
belief  become  vain,  and  the  hope  that  has  been  excited  void  of 
foundation.  <  And  if  (as  has  been  suggested  for  the  purpose  of  in 
flaming  their  passions)  the  officers  of  the  army  are  to  be  the  only 
sufferers  by  this  revolution  ;  if,  retiring  from  the  field,  they  are  to 
grow  old  in  poverty,  wretchedness,  and  contempt ;  if  they  are  to 
wade  through  the  vile  rnire  of  dependency,  and  owe  the  miserable 
remnant  of  that  life  to  charity  which  has  hitherto  been  spent  in 
honour,'  then  shall  I  have  learned  what  ingratitude  is  ;  then  shall 
I  have  realized  a  tale  which  will  embitter  every  moment  of  my 
future  life. 

"But  I  am  under  no  such  apprehensions.     A  country  rescued 


DISBANDING   THE   ARMY.  465 

by  their  arms  from  impending  ruin  will  never  leave  unpaid  the 
debt  of  gratitude. 

«  Should  any  intemperate  and  improper  warmth  have  mingled 
itself  among  the  foregoing  observations,  I  must  entreat  your  excel 
lency  and  Congress  that  it  may  be  attributed  to  the  effusions  of  an 
honest  zeal  in  the  best  of  causes,  and  that  my  peculiar  situation 
may  be  my  apology ;  and  I  hope  I  need  not,  on  this  momentous 
occasion,  make  any  new  protestations  of  disinterestedness,  having 
ever  renounced  for  myself  the  idea  of  pecuniary  reward.  The  con 
sciousness  of  having  attempted  faithfully  to  discharge  my  duty,  and 
the  approbation  of  my  country,  will  be  a  sufficient  recompense  for 
my  services." 

The  consequence  of  the  proceedings  of  the  army,  and  the  exer 
tions  of  Washington  in  their  behalf,  was  a  resolution  of  Congress 
commuting  the  half-pay  into  a  gross  sum  equal  to  five  years'  full 

pay- 

Soon  after  these  events,  a  letter  was  received  from  Lafayette, 
announcing  a  general  peace  ;  and  in  April,  official  intelligence  ar 
rived  of  the  ratification  of  the  preliminary  articles  between  Great 
Britain  and  France;  and  on  the  19th  of  that  month,  the  cessation 
of  hostilities  was  proclaimed. 

The  delicate  operation  of  disbanding  an  unpaid  army  now  claimed 
the  attention  of  Congress.  The  treasury  was  empty.  The  expendi 
tures  of  the  superintendent  of  the  finances  had  exceeded  his  re 
ceipts  $404,713,  and  the  excess  continued  to  increase  rapidly. 

In  vain  Congress  urged  the  states  to  furnish  their  respective 
contingents.  The  foreign  danger  seemed  passing  away,  and  they 
were  more  remiss  than  ever.  The  financier  was  compelled  to 
make  further  anticipations  of  the  revenue.  While  he  was  prepar 
ing  to  issue  his  notes  for  three  months'  pay  to  the  army,  Congress 
issued  orders  to  Washington  to  grant  unlimited  furloughs  to  the 
non-commissioned  officers  and  privates  who  were  engaged  to  serve 
during  the  war.  This  mode  of  disbanding  the  army  was  produc 
tive  of  serious  alarm.  The  officers  addressed  the  commander-in- 
chief,  and  communicated  their  views  with  respect  to  the  recent 
promises  of  the  government,  which  they  had,  of  course,  expected 
to  be  performed  before  they  should  be  disbanded  or  dispersed. 

Washington  felt  the  whole  force  of  this  appeal.  In  his  answer, 
he  declared,  « that  as  no  man  could  possibly  be  better  acquainted 
than  himself  with  the  past  merits  and  services  of  the  army,  so  no 
one  could  possibly  be  more  strongly  impressed  with  their  present 
ineligible  situation  ;  feel  a  keener  sensibility  at  their  distresses ; 


466  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

or  more  ardently  desire  to  alleviate  or  remove  them."  He  added, 
"  Although  the  officers  of  the  army  very  well  know  my  official 
situation  :  that  I  am  only  a  servant  of  the  public,  and  that  it  is  not 
for  me  to  dispense  with  orders  which  it  is  my  duty  to  carry  into 
execution,  yet,  as  furloughs,  in  all  services,  are  considered  as  a 
matter  of  indulgence,  and  not  compulsion ;  as  Congress,  I  am 
persuaded,  entertains  the  best  disposition  towards  the  army,  and 
as  I  apprehend,  in  a  very  short  time  the  two  articles  of  complaint 
will  be  removed,  until  the  further  pleasure  of  Congress  can  be 
known,  I  shall  not  hesitate  to  comply  with  the  wishes  of  the  army, 
under  these  reservations  only,  that  officers  sufficient  to  conduct  the 
men  who  receive  furloughs,  will  attend  them,  either  on  furlough  or 
by  detachment." 

This  answer  was  satisfactory,  and  the  arrangements  for  retiring 
on  furlough  were  made  without  further  difficulty.  In  the  course 
of  the  summer,  the  three  years'  me»  were  also  permitted  to  return 
to  their  homes,  and  in  October,  Congress  issued  a  proclamation, 
declaring  all  those  who  had  engaged  for  the  war,  to  be  discharged 
on  the  third  of  December. 

The  following  eulogium,  from  the  lips  of  one  of  our  great  states 
men,  conveys  a  just  idea  of  the  honourable  conduct  of  this  band 
of  patriots  : 

"  The  army  was  to  be  disbanded  ;  but  it  was  unpaid.  It  was 
to  lay  down  its  own  power  ;  but  there  was  no  government  with 
adequate  power  to  perform  what  had  been  promised  to  it.  In  this 
critical  moment,  what  is  its  conduct  ?  Does  it  disgrace  its  high 
character  ?  Is  temptation  able  to  seduce  it  ?  Does  it  speak  of 
righting  itself?  Does  it  undertake  to  redress  its  own  wrongs  by 
its  own  sword  ?  Does  it  lose  its  patriotism  in  its  deep  sense  of 
injury  and  injustice  ?  Does  military  ambition  cause  its  integrity 
to  swerve  ?  Far,  far  otherwise.  It  had  faithfully  served  and 
saved  the  country,  and  to  that  country  it  now  referred,  with  un 
hesitating  confidence,  its  claim  and  its  complaints.  It  laid  down 
its  arms  with  alacrity  ;  it  mingled  itself  with  the  mass  of  the  com 
munity  ;  and  it  waited  till,  in  better  times,  and  under  a  new 
government,  its  services  might  be  rewarded,  and  the  promises 
made  to  it  fulfilled.  We  can  hardly  recur  to  this  example  too 
often,  or  dwell  on  it  too  much,  for  the  honour  of  our  country  and 
its  defenders."* 

Thus  the  difficult  problem  of  disbanding  an  unpaid  army  was 
solved  by  a  seasonable  exertion  of  the  influence  and  address  of 

*  Speeches  and  Forensic  Arguments  of  Daniel  Webster. 


TAKES    LEAVE    OF   THE    ARMY.  467 

the  commander-in-chief.  But  this  could  not  be  felt  in  every  quar 
ter  with  equal  force.  In  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  about  eighty 
men  were  stationed,  who  did  not  hesitate  to  revolt  against  their 
officers,  and  march  to  Philadelphia  in  a  body,  for  the  purpose  of 
obtaining  a  redress  of  grievances"  from  the  council  of  state  at  the 
bayonet's  point. 

On  arriving  in  the  city  others  joined  them,  and  the  whole 
marched  to  the  State  House,  where  Congress  and  the  Executive 
Council  of  the  state  were  assembled,  placed  sentinels  at  the  doors, 
and  sent  in  a  written  message,  threatening  the  executive  of  the 
state  with  vengeance,  if  their  demands  were  not  granted  in  twenty 
minutes.  This  insult  applied  hardly  less  to  Congress  than  to  its 
immediate  object,  the  executive  of  Pennsylvania.  They  were  all 
held  in  durance  for  three  hours,  at  the  end  of  which  period  the 
members  of  Congress  separated,  after  agreeing  to  re-assemble  at 
Princeton. 

Washington,  on  receiving  intelligence  of  this  outrage,  instantly 
detached  fifteen  hundred  men  under  General  Howe,  to  suppress 
the  mutiny  ;  but  before  this  detachment  could  reach  the  city,  the 
disturbances  wrere  quieted.  Congress,  however,  ordered  General 
Howre  to  pursue  and  arrest  the  mutineers  who  had  retired  into  the 
country.  ' 

During  the  interval  which  elapsed  between  the  treaty  with 
Great  Britain  and  his  retirement  into  private  life,  Washington's 
attention  was  anxiously  directed  to  public  affairs.  In  particular, 
the  peace  establishment  of  the  country  occupied  him  ;  and  he 
communicated  to  Congress  his  views  respecting  a  competent  sys 
tem  for  the  regulating  and  disciplining  of  the  militia,  which  he 
justly  considered  essential  to  the  future  tranquillity,  dignity,  and 
respectability  of  the  country. 

The  circumstances  attending  General  Washington's  retirement 
are  thus  related  by  Judge  Marshall : 

"  At  length  the  British  troops  evacuated  New  York,  and  a  de 
tachment  from  the  American  army  took  possession  of  that  town. 
Guards  being  posted  for  the  security  of  the  citizens,  General 
Washington,  accompanied  by  Governor  Clinton,  and  attended  by 
many  civil  and  military  officers,  and  a  large  number  of  respectable 
inhabitants  on  horseback,  made  his  public  entry  into  the  city  ; 
where  he  was  received  with  every  mark  of  respect  and  attention. 
His  military  course  was  now  on  the  point  of  terminating  ;  and  he 
was  about  to  bid  adieu  to  his  comrades  in  arms.  This  affect 
ing  interview  took  place  on  the  4th  of  December.  At  noon,  the 


468  LIFP]    OF    WASHINGTON. 

principal  officers  of  the  army  assembled  at  Frances'  tavern,  soon 
after  which,  their  beloved  commander  entered  the  room.  His 
emotions  were  too  strong  to  be  concealed.  Filling  a  glass,  he 
turned  to  them  and  said,  <  With  a  heart  full  of  love  and  gratitude, 
I  now  take  leave  of  you ;  I  most  devoutly  wish  that  your  latter 
days  may  be  as  prosperous  and  happy  as  your  former  ones  have 
been  glorious  and  honourable.'  Having  drunk,  he  added,  <  I  can 
not  come  to  each  of  you  to  take  my  leave,  but  shall  be  obliged  if 
each  of  you  will  come  and  take  me  by  the  hand.'  General  Knox, 
being  nearest,  turned  to  him.  Washington,  incapable  of  utter 
ance,  grasped  his  hand,  and  embraced  him.  In  the  same  affec 
tionate  manner  he  took  leave  of  each  succeeding  officer.  The  tear 
of  manly  sensibility  was  in  every  eye  ;  and  not  a  word  was  articu 
lated  to  interrupt  the  dignified  silence,  and  the  tenderness  of  the 
scene.  Leaving  the  room,  he  passed  through  the  corps  of  light 
infantry,  and  walked  to  White  Hall,  where  a  barge  waited  to  con 
vey  him  to  Powles  Hook.  The  whole  company  followed  in  mute 
and  silent  procession,  with  dejected  countenances,  testifying  feel 
ings  of  delicious  melancholy,  which  no  language  can  describe. 
Having  entered  the  barge,  he  turned  to  the  company,  and,  waving 
his  hat,  bade  them  a  silent  adieu.  They  paid  him  the  same  affec- 
tionate*compliment  ;  and,  after  the  barge  had  left  them,  returned 
in  the  same  solemn  manner  to  the  place  where  they  had  assem 
bled. 

«  Congress  was  then  in  session  at  Annapolis,  in  Maryland,  to 
which  place  General  Washington  repaired,  for  the  purpose  of 
resigning  into  their  hands  the  authority  with  which  they  had  in 
vested  him.  He  arrived  on  the  19th  of  December.  The  next 
day  he  informed  that  body  of  his  intention  to  ask  leave  to  resign 
the  commission  he  had  the  honour  of  holding  in  their  service  ; 
and  requested  to  know  whether  it  would  be  their  pleasure  that  he 
should  offer  his  resignation  in  writing  or  at  an  audience. 

"  To  give  the  more  dignity  to  the  act,  they  determined  that  it 
should  be  offered  at  a  public  audience  on  the  following  Tuesday, 
at  twelve. 

"  When  the  hour  arrived  for  performing  a  ceremony  so  well  cal 
culated  to  recall  the  various  interesting  scenes  which  had  passed 
since  the  commission  now  to  be  returned  was  granted,  the  gallery 
was  crowded  with  spectators,  and  several  persons  of  distinction 
were  admitted  on  the  floor  of  Congress.  The  members  remained 
seatecj,  and  covered.  The  spectators  were  standing,  and  unco 
vered.  The  general  was  introduced  by  the  secretary,  and  con- 


RESIGNS    HIS    COMMISSION.  469 

ducted  to  a  chair.  After  a  short  pause,  the  president*  informed 
him,  that  <  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled  were  pre 
pared  to  received  his  communications.'  With  native  dignity,  im 
proved  by  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion,  the  general  rose  and  de 
livered  the  following  address : 

"  <  Mr.  President, — The  great  events  on  which  my  resignation 
depended,  having  at  length  taken  place,  I  have  now  the  honour  of 
offering  my  sincere  congratulations  to  Congress,  and  of  presenting 
myself  before  them,  to  surrender  into  their  hands  the  trust  com 
mitted  to  me,  and  to  claim  the  indulgence  of  retiring  from  the 
service  of  my  country. 

"  <  Happy  in  the  confirmation  of  our  independence  and  sove 
reignty,  and  pleased  with  the  opportunity  afforded  the  United 
States  of  becoming  a  respectable  nation,  I  resign  with  satisfaction 
the  appointment  I  accepted  with  diffidence  ;  a  diffidence  in  my 
abilities  to  accomplish  so  arduous  a  task,  which  however  was 
superseded  by  a  confidence  in  the  rectitude  of  our  cause,  the  sup 
port  of  the  supreme  power  of  the  Union,  and  the  patronage  of 
Heaven. 

"  <  The  successful  termination  of  the  war  has  verified  the  most 
sanguine  expectations  ;  and  my  gratitude  for  the  interposition 
of  Providence,  and  the  assistance  I  have  received  from  my  coun 
trymen,  increases  with  every  review  of  the  momentous  contest. 

«  <•  While  I  repeat  my  obligations  to  the  army  in  general,  I 
should  do  injustice  to  my  own  feelings,  not  to  acknowledge  in  this 
place  the  peculiar  services  and  distinguished  merits  of  the  gentle 
men  who  have  been  attached  to  my  person  during  the  war.  It 
was  impossible  the  choice  of  confidential  officers  to  compose  my 
family  should  have  been  more  fortunate.  Permit  me,  sir,  to 
recommend,  in  particular,  those  who  have  continued  in  the  service 
to  the  present  moment,  as  worthy  of  the  favourable  notice  and  pa 
tronage  of  Congress. 

"  <  I  consider  it  as  an  indispensable  duty  to  close  this  last  act  of 
my  official  life,  by  commending  the  interests  of  our  dearest  coun 
try  to  the  protection  of  Almighty  God,  and  those  who  have  the 
superintendence  of  them  to  his  holy  keeping. 

"  ;  Having  now  finished  the  work  assigned  me,  I  retire  from  the 
i^reat  theatre  of  action,  and,  bidding  an  affectionate  farewell  to  this 
august  body,  under  whose  orders  I  have  so  long  acted,  I  here  offer 
my  commission,  and  take  my  leave  of  all  the  employments  of  pub 
lic  life.' 

*  General  Mifflin. 
2R 


470  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

«  After  advancing  to  the  chair,  and  delivering  his  commission 
to  the  president,  he  returned  to  his  place,  and  received,  standing, 
the  following  answer  of  Congress,  which  was  delivered  by  the 
president. 

«  <  Sir, — The  United  States,  in  Congress* assembled,  receive 
with  emotions  too  affecting  for  utterance  the  solemn  resignation 
of  the  authorities  under  which  you  have  led  their  troops  with  suc 
cess  through  a  perilous  and  a  doubtful  war.  Called  upon  by  your 
country  to  defend  its  invaded  rights,  you  accepted  the  sacred 
charge,  before  it  had  formed  alliances,  and  whilst  it  was  without 
funds  or  a  government  to  support  you.  You  have  conducted  the 
great  military  contest  with  wisdom  and  fortitude,  invariably  re 
garding  the  rights  of  the  civil  power,  through  all  disasters  and 
changes.  You  have,  by  the  love  and  confidence  of  your  fellow 
citizens,  enabled  them  to  display  their  martial  genius,  and  trans 
mit  their  fame  to  posterity.  You  have  persevered  until  these 
United  States,  aided  by  a  magnanimous  king  and  nation,  have 
been  enabled  under  a  just  Providence  to  close  the  war  in  freedom, 
safety,  and  independence  ;  on  which  happy  event  we  sincerely 
join  you  in  congratulations. 

"  <  Having  defended  the  standard  of  liberty  in  this  New  World, 
— having  taught  a  lesson  useful  to  those  who  inflict  and  to  those 
who  feel  oppression,  you  retire  from  the  great  theatre  of  action  with 
the  blessings  of  your  fellow  citizens.  But  the  glory  of  your  vir 
tues  will  not  terminate  with  your  military  command  ;  it  will  con 
tinue  to  animate  remotest  ages. 

«  <  We  feel  with  you  our  obligations  to  the  army  in  general, 
and  will  particularly  charge  ourselves  with  the  interests  of  those 
confidential  officers  who  have  attended  your  person  to  this  affect 
ing  moment. 

«  <  We  join  with  you  in  commending  the  interests  of  our  dearest 
country  to  the  protection  of  Almighty  God,  beseeching  him  to 
dispose  the  hearts  and  minds  of  its  citizens  to  improve  the  oppor 
tunity  afforded  them  of  becoming  a  happy  and  a  respectable  na 
tion.  And  for  you,  we  address  to  him  our  earnest  prayers  that  a 
life  so  beloved  may  be  fostered  with  all  his  care  ;  that  your  days 
may  be  as  happy  as  they  have  been  illustrious ;  and  that  he  will 
finally  give  you  that  reward  which  this  world  cannot  give.' 

"  This  scene  being  closed,  a  scene  rendered  peculiarly  interest 
ing  by  the  personages  who  appeared  in  it,  by  the  great  events  it 
recalled  to  the  memory,  and  by  the  singularity  of  the  circum 
stances  under  which  it  was  displayed,  the  American  chief  with- 


RETIRES    TO    MOUNT    VERNON. 


471 


drew  from  the  hall  of  Congress,  leaving  the  silent  and  admiring 
spectators  deeply  impressed  with  those  sentiments  which  its  solem 
nity  and  dignity  were  calculated  to  inspire. 

"  Divested  of  his  military  character,  General  Washington  retired 
to  Mount  Vernon,  followed  by  the  enthusiastic  love,  esteem,  and 
admiration  of  his  countrymen.  Relieved  from  the  agitations  of  a 
doubtful  contest,  and  from  the  toils  of  an  exalted  station,  he  re 
turned  with  increased  delight  to  the  duties  and  the  enjoyments  of  a 
private  citizen.  He  indulged  the  hope,  that,  in  the  shade  of  re 
tirement,  under  the  protection  of  a  free  government,  and  the 
benignant  influence  of  mild  and  equal  laws,  he  might  taste  that 
felicity  which  is  the  reward  of  a  mind  at  peace  with  itself  and 
conscious  of  its  own  purity."* 

*  Marshall. 


472 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 
in  pdbatc  Elfe*     ^formation  of  tfje 


HE  change  which  now  took  place  in 
the  situation  and  pursuits  of  Wash 
ington  was  remarkable.  Suddenly 
passing  from  the  toils  of  the  first 
[  commission  in  the  United  Slates  to 
:^  the  condition  of  a  simple  farmer,  ex 
changing  the  implements  of  war  for 
those  of  husbandry,  and  becoming 
the  patron  and  example  of  inge 
nious  agriculture,  was  a  task  that 
to  most  men  would  have  presented 

insuperable  difficulties.  To  the  elevated  mind  of  Washington, 
however,  it  was  at  once  natural  and  delightful.  The  sensations  he 
experienced  on  the  total  change  in  his  habits  of  life  are  best  ex 
pressed  in  his  own  words. 


V 


VNJVERSnry  ' 


•SlL/FORN£ 


HIS    PRIVATE    LIFE.  475 

«I  feel,"  he  writes,  «as  a  wearied  traveller  must  do,  who,  after 
treading  many  a  painful  step  with  a  heavy  burden  on  his  shoulders, 
is  eased  of  the  latter,  having  reached  the  haven  to  which  all  the  for 
mer  were  directed,  and  from  his  house-top  is  looking  back  and 
tracing  with  an  eager  eye  the  meanders  by  which  he  escaped  the 
quicksands  and  mires  which  lay  in  his  way,  and  into  which  none 
but  the  all-powerful  Guide  and  Dispenser  of  human  events  could 
have  prevented  his  falling. 

"1  have  become  a  private  citizen  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac, 
and,  under  the  shadow  of  my  own  vine  and  my  own  fig-tree,  from 
the  bustle  of  a  camp  and  the  busy  scenes  of  public  life,  I  am  solac 
ing  myself  with  those  tranquil  enjoyments,  of  which  the  soldier, 
who  is  ever  in  pursuit  of  fame ;  the  statesman,  whose  watchful 
days  and  sleepless  nights  are  spent  in  devising  schemes  to  promote 
the  welfare  of  his  own,  perhaps  the  ruin  of  other  countries,  as  if 
this  globe  was  insufficient  for  us  all ;  and  the  courtier,  who  is  always 
watching  the  countenance  of  his  prince,  in  the  hope  of  catching  a 
gracious  smile,  can  have  very  little  conception.  I  have  not  only 
retired  from  all  public  employments,  but  am  retiring  within  myself, 
and  shall  be  able  to  view  the  solitary  walk,  and  tread  the  paths  of 
private  life  with  heartfelt  satisfaction.  Envious  of  none,  I  am 
determined  to  be  pleased  with  all ;  and  this,  my  dear  friend,  being 
the  order  of  my  march,  I  will  move  gently  down  the  stream  of  life, 
until  I  sleep  with  my  fathers." 

Agriculture,  which  had  always  been  the  favourite  employment 
of  Washington,  was  now  resumed  with  increasing  delight.  The 
energies  of  his  active  mind  were  devoted  to  this  first  and  most  use 
ful  art.  No  improvements  in  the  construction  of  farming  utensils, 
no  valuable  experiments  in  husbandry,  escaped  his  attention.  He 
saw,  with  regret,  the  miserable  system  of  cultivation  which  pre 
vailed  too  generally  in  his  native  country,  and  wished  to  introduce 
a  better.  With  this  view,  he  engaged  in  a  correspondence  with 
some  of  the  distinguished  agriculturists  in  Great  Britain,  particu 
larly  the  celebrated  Arthur  Young.  He  traced  the  different  states 
of  agriculture  in  the  two  countries,  in  a  great  degree,  to  the  follow 
ing  obvious  principles.  In  Great  Britain,  land  was  dear,  and 
labour  cheap.  In  America,  the  reverse  took  place,  to  such  a  de 
gree  that  manuring  land  was  comparatively  neglected,  on  the  mis 
taken,  short-sighted  idea,  that  it  was  cheaper  to  clear  and  cultivate 
new  fields,  than  to  improve  and  repair  such  as  were  old.  To  this 
radical  error,  which  led  to  idleness  and  a  vagabond,  dispersed  popu 
lation,  he  opposed  the  whole  weight  of  his  influence.  His  example 


476  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

and  recommendations  tended  to  revolutionize  the  agriculture  of  his 
country,  as  his  labour  had  revolutionized  its  government. 

The  extension  of  inland  navigation  occupied  much  of  Washing 
ton's  attention,  at  this  period  of  exemption  from  public  cares. 
Soon  after  peace  was  proclaimed,  he  made  a»tour  as  far  west  as 
Pittsburgh,  and  also  traversed  the  western  parts  of  New  England 
and  New  York,  and  examined  for  himself  the  difficulties  of  bring 
ing  the  trade  of  the  west  to  different  points  on  the  Atlantic.  Pos 
sessed  of  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  subject,  he  corresponded 
with  the  different  governors  of  the  States,  and  other  influential  cha 
racters.  To  them  he  suggested  the  propriety  of  making,  by  public 
authority,  an  appointment  of  commissioners  of  integrity  and  ability, 
whose  duty  it  should  be,  after  accurate  examination,  to  ascertain  the 
nearest  and  best  portages  between  such  of  the  eastern  and  western 
rivers  as  headed  near  to  each  other,  though  they  ran  in  opposite 
directions ;  and  also  to  trace  the  rivers  west  of  the  Ohio  to  their 
sources  and  mouths,  as  they  respectively  emptied  either  into  the 
Ohio,  or  the  lakes  of  Canada,  and  to  make  an  accurate  map  of  the 
whole,  with  observations  on  the  impediments  to  be  overcome,  and 
the  advantages  to  be  acquired  on  the  completion  of  the  work. 

The  views  of  Washington  in  advocating  the  extension  of  inland 
navigation  were  grand  and  magnificent.  He  considered  it  as  an 
effectual  means  of  cementing  the  union  of  the  States.  In  his  letter 
to  the  governor  of  Virginia,  he  observed:  "I  need  not  remark  to 
you,  sir,  that  the  flanks  and  rear  of  the  United  States  are  possessed 
by  other  powers,  and  formidable  ones  too ;  nor  need  I  press  the 
necessity  of  applying  the  cement  of  interest  to  bind  all  parts  of  the 
Union  together  by  indissoluble  bonds,  especially  of  binding  that 
part  of  it  which  lies  immediately  west  of  us,  to  the  Middle  States. 
For  what  ties,  let  me  ask,  should  we  have  upon  those  people ;  how 
entirely  unconnected  with  them  shall  we  be,  and  what  troubles  may 
we  not  apprehend,  if  the  Spaniards  on  their  right,  and  Great 
Britain  on  their  left,  instead  of  throwing  impediments  in  their  way 
as  they  do  now,  should  hold  out  lures  for  their  trade  and  alliance  ? 
When  they  get  strength,  which  will  be  sooner  than  most  people 
conceive,  what  will  be  the  consequence  of  their  having  formed 
close  commercial  connections  with  both  or  either  of  those  powers? 
It  needs  not,  in  my  opinion,  the  gift  of  prophecy  to  foretell." 
After  stating  the  same  thing  to  a  member  of  Congress,  he  proceeds : 
"It  may  be  asked,  how  we  are  to  prevent  this?  Happily  for  us, 
the  way  is  plain.  Our  immediate  interests,  as  well  as  remote  politi 
cal  advantages,  point  to  it,  whilst  a  combination  of  circumstances 


HIS    PRIVATE    LIFE.  477 

render  the  present  time  more  favourable  than  any  other  to  accom 
plish  it.  Extend  the  inland  navigation  of  the  eastern  waters ;  com 
municate  them  as  near  as  possible  with  those  which  run  westward  ; 
open  these  to  the  Ohio  ;  open  also  such  as  extend  from  the  Ohio 
towards  Lake  Erie  ;  and  we  shall  not  only  draw  the  produce  of 
the  western  settlers,  but  the  peltry  and  fur  trade  of  the  lakes  also, 
to  our  ports  ;  thus  adding  an  immense  increase  to  our  exports,  and 
binding  those  people  to  us  by  a  chain  which  never  can  be  broken." 

The  Virginia  legislature  acted  on  the  recommendation  of  General 
Washington  to  the  extent  of  his  wishes;  and  in  consequence 
thereof,  works  of  the  greatest  utility  have  been  nearly  accomplished. 
They  went  one  step  farther,  and  by  a  legislative  act,  vested  in  him, 
at  the  expense  of  the  state,  one  hundred  and  fifty  shares  in  the 
navigation  of  the  rivers  Potomac  and  James.  The  act  for  this 
purpose  was  introduced  with  the  following  preamble:  "Whereas, 
it  is  the  desire  of  the  representatives  of  this  Commonwealth  to  em 
brace  every  suitable  occasion  of  testifying  their  sense  of  the  unex 
ampled  merits  of  George  Washington,  Esq..  towards  his  country ; 
and  it  is  their  wish  in  particular  that  those  great  works  for  its 
improvement,  which,  both  as  springing  from  the  liberty  which  he 
has  been  so  instrumental  in  establishing,  and  as  encouraged  by 
his  patronage,  will  be  durable  monuments  of  his  glory,  may  be 
made  monuments  also  of  the  gratitude  of  his  country :  Be  it 
enacted,"  &c. 

To  the  friend  who  conveyed  to  Washington  the  first  intelligence 
of  this  bill,  he  replied  : 

«  It  is  not  easy  for  me  to  decide,  by  which  my  mind  was  most 
affected,  upon  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  6th  instant,  surprise 
or  gratitude.  Both  were  greater  than  I  had  words  to  express. 
The  attention  and  good  wishes  which  the  Assembly  have  evi 
denced  by  their  act  for  vesting  in  me  one  hundred  and  fifty  shares 
in  the  navigation  of  the  rivers  Potomac  and  James  is  more  than 
mere  compliment.  There  is  an  unequivocal  and  substantial  mean 
ing  annexed.  But,  believe  me,  sir,  no  circumstance  has  happened 
since  I  left  the  walks  of  public  life  which  has  so  much  embar 
rassed  me.  On  the  one  hand,  I  consider  this  act  as  a  noble  and 
unequivocal  proof  of  the  good  opinion,  the  affection  and  disposition 
of  my  country  to  serve  me  ;  and  I  should  be  hurt,  if,  by  declining 
the  acceptance  of  it,  my  refusal  should  be  construed  into  disre 
spect,  or  the  smallest  slight  upon  the  generous  intention  of  the 
legislature,  or  that  an  ostentatious  display  of  disinterestedness  or 
public  virtue  was  the  source  of  refusal. 


478  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  really  my  wish  to  have  my  mind  and 
my  actions,  which  are  the  result  of  reflection,  as  free  and  inde 
pendent  as  the  air,  that  I  may  be  more  at  liberty  to  express  my 
sentiments,  and,  if  necessary,  to  suggest  what  may  occur  to  me, 
under  the  fullest  conviction,  that  although  my  judgment  may  be 
arraigned,  there  will  be  no  suspicion  that  sinister  motives  had  the 
smallest  influence  in  the  suggestion.  Not  content,  then,  with  the 
bare  consciousness  of  my  having,  in  all  this  navigation  business, 
acted  upon  the  clearest  conviction  of  the  political  importance  of 
the  measure,  I  would  wish  that  every  individual  who  may  hear  that 
it  was  a  favourite  plan  of  mine,  may  know  also  that  I  had  no  other 
motive  for  promoting  it  than  the  advantage  of  which  I  conceived  it 
would  be  productive  to  the  Union  at  large,  and  to  this  state  in  par 
ticular,  by  cementing  the  eastern  and  western  territory  together ; 
at  the  same  time  that  it  will  give  vigour  to,  and  increase  our  com 
merce,  and  be  a  convenience  to  our  citizens. 

«  How  would  this  matter  be  viewed,  then,  by  the  eye  of  the 
world,  and  what  opinion  would  be  formed,  when  it  comes  to  be 

related  that  G W n  exerted  himself  to  effect  this  work, 

and  that  G W n  has  received  twenty  thousand  dollars, 

and  five  thousand  pounds  sterling  of  the  public  money  as  an  inte 
rest  therein  ?  Would  not  this  (if  I  am  entitled  to  any  merit  for 
the  part  I  have  performed,  and  without  it  there  is  no  foundation 
for  the  act)  deprive  me  of  the  principal  thing  which  is  laudable  in 
my  conduct  ?  Would  it  not  in  some  respects  be  considered  in  the 
same  light  as  a  pension  ?  And  would  not  the  apprehensions  of 
this  induce  me  to  offer  my  sentiments  in  future  with  the  more  re 
luctance  ?  In  a  word,  under  whatever  pretence,  and  however  cus 
tomary  these  gratuities  may  be  in  other  countries,  should  I  not 
thenceforward  be  considered  as  a  dependent  ?  One  moment's 
thought  of  which  would  give  me  more  pain  than  I  should  receive 
pleasure  from  the  product  of  all  the  tolls,  was  every  farthing  of 
them  vested  in  me." 

To  the  governor  of  the  state,  on  receiving  from  him  an  official 
copy  of  the  aforesaid  act,  Washington  replied  as  follows  : 

"  Your  excellency  having  been  pleased  to  transmit  me  a  copy 
of  the  act  appropriating  to  my  benefit  certain  shares  in  the  compa 
nies  for  opening  the  navigation  of  James  and  Potomac  rivers  ; 
I  take  the  liberty  of  returning,  to  the  General  Assembly,  through 
your  hands,  the  profound,  and  grateful  acknowledgments  inspired 
by  so  signal  a  mark  of  their  beneficent  intentions  towards  me.  I 
beg  you,  sir,  to  assure  them,  that  I  am  filled,  on  this  occasion, 


REFUSAL    OF   A    GIFT    FROM    VIRGINIA.        479 

with  every  sentiment  \vhich  can  flow  from  a  heart  warm  with  love 
to  my  country,  sensible  to  every  token  of  its  approbation  and 
affection,  and  solicitous  to  testify,  in  every  instance,  a  respectful 
submission  to  its  wishes. 

"  With  these  sentiments  in  my  bosom,  I  need  not  dwell  on  the 
anxiety  I  feel,  in  being  obliged,  in  this  instance,  to  decline  a 
favour  which  is  rendered  no  less  flattering  by  the  manner  in  which 
it  is  conveyed  than  it  is  affectionate  in  itself.  In  explaining  this, 
I  pass  over  a  comparison  of  my  endeavours  in  the  public  service, 
with  the  many  honourable  testimonies  of  approbation  which  have 
already  so  far  overrated  and  overpaid  them  ;  reciting  one  consi 
deration  only,  which  supersedes  the  necessity  of  recurring  to  every 
other. 

"  When  I  was  first  called  to  the  station  with  which  I  was  ho 
noured  during  the  late  conflict  for  our  liberties,  to  the  diffidence 
which  I  had  so  many  reasons  to  feel  in  accepting  it,  I  thought  it 
my  duty  to  join  a  firm  resolution  to  shut  my  hand  against  every 
pecuniary  recompense.  To  this  resolution  I  have  invariably  ad 
hered,  and  from  it  (if  I  had  the  inclination)  I  do  not  consider  my 
self  at  liberty  now  to  depart. 

"  Whilst  I  repeat,  therefore,  my  fervent  acknowledgments  to  the 
legislature  for  their  very  kind  sentiments  and  intentions  in  my 
favour,  and  at  the  same  time  beg  them  to  be  persuaded,  that  a 
remembrance  of  this  singular  proof  of  their  goodness  towards  me 
will  never  cease  to  cherish  returns  of  the  warmest  affection  and 
gratitude  ;  I  must  pray  that  their  act,  so  far  as  it  has  for  its  object 
my  personal  emolument,  may  not  have  its  effect ;  but  if  it  should 
please  the  General  Assembly  to  permit  me  to  turn  the  destination 
of  the  fund  vested  in  me,  from  my  private  emolument  to  objects 
of  a  public  nature,  it  will  be  my  study  in  selecting  these,  to  prove 
the  sincerity  of  my  gratitude  for  the  honour  conferred  upon  me, 
by  preferring  such  as  may  appear  most  subservient  to  the  enlight 
ened  and  patriotic  views  of  the  legislature." 

The  wishes  suggested  in  this  letter  were  sanctioned  by  the  legis 
lature  ;  and,  at  a  subsequent  time,  the  trust  was  executed  by 
conveying  the  shares  to  the  use  of  a  seminary  of  learning  in  the 
vicinity  of  each  river. 

Near  the  close  of  the  revolutionary  war,  the  officers  of  the  Ame 
rican  army,  with  a  view  of  perpetuating  their  friendships,  formed 
themselves  into  a  society,  to  be  named  after  the  famous  Roman 
patriot,  Cincinnatus.  At  the  head  of  their  society  General  Wash 
ington  was  placed.  By  the  rules  of  their  institution,  the  honours 


480  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

of  the  society  were  to  be  hereditary  in  their  respective  families,  and 
distinguished  individuals  might  be  admitted  as  honorary  members 
for  life.  These  circumstances,  together  with  the  union  of  the  offi 
cers  of  the  army,  gave  an  alarm  to  the  community ;  several  indi 
viduals  of  which  supposed  that  the  hereditary  part  of  the  institution 
would  be  a  germ  of  nobility.  It  was  the  usual  policy  of  Washing 
ton  to  respect  the  opinions  of  the  people,  in  matters  indifferent,  or 
of  small  magnitude,  though  he  might  think  them  mistaken.  Hav 
ing  ascertained,  to  his  own  satisfaction,  that  a  degree  of  jealousy 
pervaded  the  mass  of  the  people,  respecting  the  probable  tendency 
of  this  perpetual  hereditary  society,  he  successfully  exerted  his 
influence  to  new-model  its  rules,  by  relinquishing  the  hereditary 
principle,  and  the  power  of  adopting  honorary  members.  The 
result  proved  the  wisdom  of  the  measure  ;  for  all  jealousies  of  the 
society  henceforward  were  done  away,  and  the  members  thereof 
were  received  as  brethren  by  the  most  suspicious  of  their  fellow 
citizens. 

When  Washington,  at  the  close  of  the  revolutionary  war  became 
a  private  citizen,  his  country  confidently  anticipated  every  possible 
blessing  from  peace,  independence,  and  self-government.  But 
experience  soon  proved  the  inefficacy  of  existing  systems  for  pro 
moting  public  happiness,  or  preserving  national  dignity.  Congress 
had  neither  the  power  nor  the  means  of  doing  justice  to  public 
creditors,  nor  of  enforcing  the  respect  of  foreign  nations.  Gold  and 
silver  vanished,  commerce  languished,  property  was  depreciated, 
and  credit  expired.  The  lovers  of  liberty  and  independence  began 
to  be  less  sanguine  in  their  hopes  from  the  American  revolution, 
and  to  fear  that  they  had  built  a  visionary  fabric  of  government  on 
the  fallacious  ideas  of  public  virtue.  For  the  first  five  or  six  years 
immediately  following  peace,  the  splendour  which  surrounded  the 
infant  states  from  their  successful  struggle  in  the  cause  of  indepen 
dence  and  self-government  was  daily  darkening.  This  state  of 
things  could  not  be  indifferent  to  Washington.  He  was  among 
the  first  to  discover  the  cause,  and  to  point  out  the  remedy.  The 
inefficient  support  he  received  while  commander-in-chief,  proved 
the  inefficacy  of  the  articles  of  confederation  for  raising  and  sup 
porting  a  requisite  military  force.  The  experience  of  the  first  years 
of  peace  proved  their  total  inadequacy  for  the  purpose  of  national 
government.  From  want  of  vigour  in  the  federal  head,  the  United 
States  were  fast  dwindling  into  separate  sovereignties,  unconnected 
by  any  bond  of  union  equal  to  public  exigency.  The  enthusiasm 
of  a  popular  contest,  terminating  in  victory,  began  to  subside,  and 


RISE    OF    THE    FEDERALISTS.  481 

the  sacrifices  of  the  Revolution  soon  became  known  and  felt.  The 
claims  of  those  who  toiled,  and  fought,  and  suffered  in  the  arduous 
struggle  were  strongly  urged,  and  the  government  had  neither  re 
sources  nor  power  to  satisfy  or  to  silence  them.  The  federal  head 
had  no  separate  or  exclusive  fund.  The  members  of  Congress 
depended  on  the  states  which  they  respectively  represented,  even 
for  their  own  maintenance,  and  money  for  national  purposes  could 
only  be  obtained  by  requisitions  on  the  different  members  of  the 
confederacy.  On  them  it  became  necessary  immediately  to  call 
forth  funds  to  discharge  the  arrears  of  pay  due  to  the  soldiers  of 
the  Revolution,  and  the  interest  on  the  debt  which  the  government 
had  been  compelled  to  contract.  The  legislatures  of  the  different 
states  received  these  requisitions  with  respect,  listened  to  the  moni 
tory  warnings  of  Congress  with  deference,  and  with  silent  and 
inactive  acquiescence.  Their  own  situation,  indeed,  was  full  of 
embarrassment.  The  wealth  of  the  country  had  been  totally  ex 
hausted  during  the  Revolution.  Taxes  could  not  be  collected, 
because  there  was  no  money  to  represent  the  value  of  the  little 
personal  property  which  had  not  been,  and  the  land  which  could 
not  be  destroyed  ;  and  commerce,  though  preparing  to  burst  from 
its  thraldom,  had  not  yet  had  time  to  restore  to  the  annual  produce 
of  the  country  its  exchangeable  value.  The  Siates  owed  each  a 
heavy  debt  for  local  services  rendered  during  the  Revolution,  for 
which  it  was  bound  to  provide,  and  each  had  its  own  domestic 
government  to  support.  Under  these  circumstances,  it  is  not  sur 
prising  that  each  state  was  anxious  to  retain  for  its  benefit  the 
small  but  rising  revenue  derived  from  foreign  commerce ;  and  that 
the  custom-houses  in  each  commercial  city  were  considered  as  the 
most  valuable  sources  of  income  which  the  states  possessed.  Each 
state,  therefore,  made  its  own  regulations,  its  tariff,  and  tonnage 
duties,  and,  as  a  natural  consequence,  the  different  states  clashed 
with  each  other ;  one  nation  became  more  favoured  than  another 
under  the  same  circumstances ;  and  one  state  pursued  a  system 
injurious  to  the  interest  of  another.  Hence,  the  confidence  of 
foreign  countries  was  destroyed ;  and  they  would  not  enter  into 
treaties  of  commerce  with  the  confederated  government,  while  they 
were  not  likely  to  be  carried  into  effect.  A  general  decay  of  trade, 
the  rise  of  imported  merchandise,  the  fall  of  produce,  and  an  un 
common  decrease  of  the  value  of  lands,  ensued. 

The  private  letters  of  Washington,  at  this  time,  show  his  anxiety 
for  his  country's  welfare,  and  his  wisdom  in  pointing  out  a  remedy 
for  its  degradation.     In  one  of  them  he  observes,  "The  confedeT 
61  2S 


482  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

ration  appears  to  be  to  me,  to  be  little  more  than  a  shadow  without 
the  substance,  and  Congress  a  nugatory  body,  their  ordinances  being 
little  attended  to.  To  me  it  is  a  solecism  in  politics ;  indeed,  it 
is  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  things  in  nature,  that  we  should 
confederate  as  a  nation,  and  yet  be  afraid  to  gtve  the  rulers  of  that 
•  nation,  who  are  the  creatures  of  our  own  making,  appointed  for  a 
limited  and  short  duration,  and  who  are  amenable  for  every  action, 
recallable  at  any  moment,  and  subject  to  all  the  evils  which  they 
may  be  instrumental  in  producing,  sufficient  powers  to  order  and 
direct  the  affairs  of  the  same.  By  such  policy  the  wheels  of  go 
vernment  are  clogged,  and  our  brightest  prospects,  and  that  high 
expectation  which  was  entertained  of  us  by  the  wondering  world, 
are  turned  into  astonishment ;  and  from  the  high  ground  on  which 
we  stood,  we  are  descending  into  the  vale  of  confusion  and  dark 
ness. 

"That  we  have  it  in  our  power  to  become  one  of  the  most  re 
spectable  nations  upon  earth,  admits,  in  my  humble  opinion,  of  no 
doubt,  if  we  would  but  pursue  a  wise,  just,  and  liberal  policy 
towards  one  another,  and  would  keep  good  faith  with  the  rest  of 
the  world.  That  our  resources  are  ample  and  increasing,  none  can 
deny ;  but  while  they  are  grudgingly  applied,  or  not  applied  at  all, 
we  give  a  vital  stab  to  public  faith,  and  will  sink  in  the  eyes  of 
Europe  into  contempt." 

In  another,  "It  is  one  of  the  evils  of  democratic  governments, 
that  the  people,  not  always  seeing,  and  frequently  misled,  must 
often  feel  before  they  are  set  right.  But  evils  of  this  nature  seldom 
fail  to  work  their  own  cure.  It  is  to  be  lamented,  nevertheless,  that 
the  remedies  are  so  slow,  and  that  those  who  wish  to  apply  them 
seasonably  are  not  attended  to  before  they  suffer  in  person,  in 
interest,  and  in  reputation.  I  am  not  without  hopes  that  matters 
will  soon  take  a  favourable  turn  in  the  federal  constitution.  The 
discerning  part  of  the  community  have  long  since  seen  the  necessity 
of  giving  adequate  powers  to  Congress  for  national  purposes,  and 
those  of  a  different  description  must  yield  to  it  ere  long." 

In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Jay,  General  Washington  observed :  "  Your 
sentiments  that  our  affairs  are  drawing  rapidly  to  a  crisis,  accord 
with  my  own.  What  the  event  will  be,  is  also  beyond  the  reach 
of  my  foresight.  We  have  errors  to  correct ;  we  have  probably 
had  too  good  an  opinion  of  human  nature  in  forming  our  confede 
ration.  Experience  has  taught  us  that  men  will  not  adopt  and 
carry  into  execution  measures  the  best  calculated  for  their  own 
good,  without  the  intervention  of  coercive  power.  I  do  not  con- 


THE    CONFEDERATION.  483 

ceive  we  can  subsist  long  as  a  nation,  without  lodging  some 
where  a  power  which  will  pervade  the  whole  union,  in  as  ener 
getic  a  manner  as  the  authority  of  the  state  governments  extends 
over  the  several  states.  To  be  fearful  of  investing  Congress,  con 
stituted  as  that  body  is,  with  ample  authorities  for  national  pur 
poses,  appears  to  me  the  very  climax  of  popular  absurdity  and 
madness.  Could  Congress  exert  themselves  in  an  equal  or  greater 
proportion  ?  Are  not  their  interests  inseparably  connected  with 
those  of  their  constituents  ?  By  the  rotation  of  appointment  must 
they  not  mingle  frequently  with  the  mass  of  citizens  ?  Is  it  not 
rather  to  be  apprehended,  if  they  were  possessed  of  the  powers 
before  described,  that  the  individual  members  would  be  induced  to 
use  them  on  many  occasions,  very  timidly  and  in  efficaciously,  for 
fear  of  losing  their  popularity  and  future  election  ?  We  must  take 
human  nature  as  we  find  it,  perfection  falls  not  to  the  share  of 
mortals.  Many  are  of  opinion  that  Congress  have  too  frequently 
made  use  of  the  suppliant  humble  tone  of  requisition,  by  applica 
tions  to  the  states,  when  they  had  a  right  to  assert  their  imperial 
dignity,  and  command  obedience.  Be  that  as  it  may,  requisitions 
are  a  perfect  nullity,  where  thirteen  sovereign,  independent,  disunited 
states  are  in  the  habit  of  discussing,  and  refusing  or  complying 
with  them  at  their  option.  Requisitions  are  actually  little  better 
than  a  jest  and  a  bye-word  throughout  the  land.  If  you  tell  the 
legislatures  they  have  violated  the  treaty  of  peace,  and  invaded  the 
prerogatives  of  the  confederacy,  they  will  laugh  in  your  face.  What 
then  is  to  be  done  ?  Things  cannot  go  on  in  the  same  train  for 
ever.  It  is  much  to  be  feared,  as  you  observe,  that  the  better  kind 
of  people,  having  been  disgusted  with  these  circumstances,  will  have 
their  minds  prepared  for  any  revolution  whatever.  WTe  are  apt  to 
run  from  one  extreme  into  another.  To  anticipate  and  prevent  dis 
astrous  contingencies  would  be  the  part  of  wisdom  and  patriotism. 
"What  astonishing  changes  are  a  few  years  capable  of  produc 
ing  !  I  am  told  that  even  respectable  characters  speak  of  a  monar 
chical  form  of  government  without  horror.  From  thinking,  pro 
ceeds  speaking  ;  thence  to  acting  is  often  but  a  single  step.  But 
how  irrevocable  and  tremendous  !  What  a  triumph  for  our  ene 
mies  to  verify  their  predictions !  What  a  triumph  for  the  advo 
cate  of  despotism  to  find  that  we  are  incapable  of  governing  our 
selves,  and  that  systems  founded  on  the  basis  of  equal  liberty  are 
merely  ideal  and  fallacious  !  Would  to  God  that  wise  measures 
may  be  taken  in  time,  to  avert  the  consequences  we  have  but  too 
much  reason  to  apprehend. 


484  LIFE    OF   WASHINGTON. 

"Retired  as  I  am  from  the  world,  I  frankly  acknowledge  I  can 
not  feel  myself  an  unconcerned  spectator.  Yet,  having  happily 
assisted  in  bringing  the  ship  into  port,  and  having  been  fairly  dis 
charged,  it  is  not  my  business  to  embark  again  on  a  sea  of  troubles. 

"  Nor  could  it  be  expected  that  my  sentiments  and  opinions 
would  have  much  weight  on  the  minds  of  my  countrymen.  They 
have  been  neglected,  though  given  as  a  last  legacy  in  the  most 
solemn  matter.  I  had  then,  perhaps,  some  claims  to  public  atten 
tion.  I  consider  myself  as  having  none  at  present." 

Illumination,  on  the  subject  of  enlarging  the  powers  of  Congress, 
was  gradual.  Washington,  in  his  extensive  correspondence  and 
intercourse  with  the  leading  characters  of  the  different  states,  urged 
the  necessity  of  a  radical  reform  in  the  existing  system  of  govern 
ment. 

The  time  at  length  came  when  the  public  mind  gave  tokens  of 
being  prepared  for  a  change  in  the  constitution  of  the  general  go 
vernment,  an  occurrence  the  necessity  of  which  had  long  been  fore 
seen  by  Washington  and  most  of  the  distinguished  patriots  of  that 
period.  Evil  had  accumulated  upon  evil,  till  the  mass  became  too 
oppressive  to  be  endured,  and  the  voice  of  the  nation  cried  out 
for  relief.  The  first  decisive  measures  proceeded  from  the  mer 
chants,  who  came  forward,  almost  simultaneously,  in  all  parts  of 
the  country,  with  representations  of  the  utter  prostration  of  the  mer 
cantile  interests,  and  petitions  for  a  speedy  and  efficient  remedy. 
It  was  shown,  that  the  advantages  of  this  most  important  source 
of  national  prosperity  were  flowing  into  the  hands  of  foreigners, 
and  that  the  native  merchants  were  suffering  for  the  want  of  a  just 
protection,  and  a  uniform  system  of  trade.  The  wise  and  reflect 
ing  were  convinced  that  some  decided  efforts  were  necessary  to 
strengthen  the  general  government,  or  that  a  dissolution  of  the 
union,  and  perhaps  a  devastating  anarchy,  would  be  inevitable. 

The  first  step  towards  a  general  reformation  was  rather  acci 
dental  than  premeditated.  Certain  citizens  of  Virginia  and  Mary 
land  had  formed  a  scheme  for  promoting  the  navigation  of  the 
Potomac  and  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  commissioners  were  appointed 
by  these  two  states  to  meet  at  Alexandria,  and  devise  some  plan 
of  operation.  These  persons  made  a  visit  to  Mount  Vernon,  and 
while  there,  it  was  proposed  among  themselves,  that  more  import 
ant  objects  should  be  connected  with  the  purpose  at  first  in  view, 
and  that  the  state  governments  should  be  solicited  to  appoint 
other  commissioners,  with  enlarged  powers,  instructed  to  form  a 
plan  for  maintaining  a  naval  force  in  the  Chesapeake,  and  also  to 


THE    CONFEDERATION.  485 

fix  upon  some  system  of  duties  on  exports  and  imports,  in  which 
both  states  should  agree,  and  that  in  the  end  Congress  should  be 
petitioned  to  allow  these  privileges.  This  project  was  approved 
by  the  legislature  of  Virginia,  and  commissioners  were  accordingly 
appointed.  The  same  legislature  passed  a  resolution,  recommend 
ing  the  design  to  other  states,  and  inviting  them  to  unite,  by  their 
commissioners,  in  an  attempt  to  establish  such  a  system  of  com 
mercial  relations  as  would  promote  general  harmony  and  pros 
perity. 

Five  states  only,  in  addition  to  Virginia,  acceded  to  this  propo 
sition  :  Maryland,  Delaware,  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  and  New 
York.  From  these  states,  commissioners  assembled  at  Annapolis, 
but  they  had  hardly  entered  into  a  discussion  of  the  topics  which 
naturally  forced  themselves  into  view,  before  they  discovered  the 
powers  with  which  they  were  intrusted  to  be  so  limited  as  to  tie 
up  their  hands  from  effecting  any  purpose  that  could  be  of  essential 
utility.  On  this  account,  as  well  as  from  the  circumstance  that  so 
few  states  were  represented,  they  wisely  declined  deciding  on  any 
important  measures  in  reference  to  the  particular  subjects  for  which 
they  had  come  together.  Before  this  convention  adjourned,  how 
ever,  the  commissioners  agreed  upon  a  report,  in  which  the  neces 
sity  of  a  revision  and  reform  of  the  articles  of  the  old  federal 
compact  was  strongly  urged,  and  which  contained  a  recommenda 
tion  to  all  the  state  legislatures  for  the  appointment  of  deputies,  to 
meet  at  Philadelphia,  writh  more  ample  powers  and  instructions. 
This  proposal  was  eventually  carried  into  effect,  and  in  conformity 
with  it,  a  convention  of  delegates  from  the  several  states  met  at 
Philadelphia,  in  May,  1787. 

While  this  proposition  was  under  consideration,  an  event  took 
place  which  pointed  out  the  propriety  of  its  adoption.  The  pres 
sure  of  evils,  in  a  great  degree  resulting  from  the  imbecility  of 
government,  aided  by  erroneous  opinions,  which  confound  liberty 
with  licentiousness,  produced  commotions  in  Massachusetts,  which 
amounted  to  treason  and  rebellion.  On  this  occasion,  Washington 
expressed  himself  in  a  letter,  as  follows  : 

«  The  commotions  and  tempers  of  numerous  bodies  in  the  east 
ern  country,  present  a  state  of  things  equally  to  be  lamented  and 
deprecated.  They  exhibit  a  melancholy  verification  of  what  our 
transatlantic  foes  have  predicted,  and  of  another  thing,  perhaps, 
which  is  still  more  to  be  regretted,  and  is  yet  more  unaccountable, 
that  mankind,  when  left  to  themselves,  are  unfit  for  their  own  go 
vernment.  I  am  mortified  beyond  expression,  when  I  view  the 


486  LIFE   OF    WASHINGTON. 

clouds  which  have  spread  over  the  brightest  morn  that  ever  dawned 
upon  my  country.  In  a  word,  I  am  lost  in  amazement,  when  I 
behold  what  intrigue  the  interested  views  of  desperate  characters, 
ignorance  and  jealousy  of  the  minor  part,  are  capable  of  effecting, 
as  a  scourge  on  the  major  part  of  our  fellow-citizens  of  the  Union  : 
for  it  is  hardly  to  be  supposed,  that  the  great  body  of  the  people, 
though  they  will  not  act,  can  be  so  short-sighted,  or  enveloped  in 
darkness,  as  not  to  see  rays  of  a  distant  sun  through  all  this  mist 
of  intoxication  and  folly. 

«  You  talk,  my  good  sir,  of  employing  influence  to  appease  the 
present  tumults  in  Massachusetts.  I  know  not  where  that  influ 
ence  is  to  be  found,  nor,  if  attainable,  that  it  would  be  a  proper 
remedy  for  these  disorders.  Influence  is  not  government.  Let  us 
have  a  government  by  which  our  lives,  liberties,  and  properties, 
will  be  secured,  or  let  us  know  the  worst  at  once.  Under  these 
impressions,  my  humble  opinion  is,  that  there  is  a  call  for  decision. 
Know  precisely  what  the  insurgents  aim  at.  If  they  have  real, 
grievances,  redress  them,  if  possible  ;  or  acknowledge  the  justice 
of  them,  and  your  inability  to  do  it  in  the  present  moment.  If 
they  have  not,  employ  the  force  of  government  against  them  at 
once.  If  this  is  inadequate,  all  will  be  convinced  that  the  super 
structure  is  bad,  or  wants  support.  To  be  more  exposed  in  the 
eyes  of  the  world,  and  more  contemptible,  is  hardly  possible.  To 
delay  one  or  the  other  of  these  expedients,  is  to  exasperate  on  the 
one  hand,  or  to  give  confidence  on  the  other,  and  will  add  to  their 
numbers  ;  for,  like  snowballs,  such  bodies  increase  by  every  move 
ment,  unless  there  is  something  in  the  way  to  obstruct  and  crum 
ble  them  before  their  weight  is  too  great  and  irresistible. 

«  These  are  my  sentiments.  Precedents  are  dangerous  things. 
Let  the  reins  of  government,  then,  be  braced  and  held  with  a 
steady  hand,  and  every  violation  of  the  constitution  be  repre 
hended.  If  defective,  let  it  be  amended,  but  not  suffered  to  be 
trampled  upon  while  it  has  an  existence." 

Virginia  placed  the  name  of  Washington  at  the  head  of  her  dele 
gates  for  the  proposed  convention.  Letters  poured  in  upon  him 
from  all  sides  urging  his  acceptance  of  the  appointment.  In  an 
swer  to  one  from  Mr.  Madison,  who  had  been  the  principal  advo 
cate  of  the  measure  in  the  Virginia  legislature,  General  Washing 
ton  replied  : 

«  Although  I  have  bid  a  public  adieu  to  the  public  walks  of  life, 
and  had  resolved  never  more  to  tread  that  theatre,  yet,  if  upon  any 
occasion  so  interesting  to  the  well-being  of  our  confederacy,  it  had 


THE    CONSTITUTION.  487 

been  the  wish  of  the  Assembly  that  I  should  be  an  associate  in  the 
business  of  revising  the  federal  system,  I  should,  from  a  sense  of 
the  obligation  I  am  under  for  repeated  proofs  of  confidence  in  me, 
more  than  from  any  opinion  I  could  entertain  of  my  usefulness, 
have  obeyed  its  call ;  but  it  is  now  out  of  my  power  to  do  this  with 
any  degree  of  consistency.  The  cause  I  will  mention. 

"  I  presume  you  heard,  sir,  that  I  was  first  appointed,  and  have 
since  been  re-chosen  president  of  the  society  of  the  Cincinnati ; 
and  you  may  have  understood,  also,  that  the  triennial  general 
meeting  of  this  body  is  to  be  held  in  Philadelphia  the  first  Mon 
day  in  May  next.  Some  particular  reasons,  combining  with  the 
peculiar  situation  of  my  private  concerns,  the  necessity  of  paying 
attention  to  them,  a  wish  for  retirement,  and  relaxation  from 
public  cares,  and  rheumatic  pains,  which  I  begin  to  feel  very  sen 
sibly,  induced  me,  on  the  31st  ultimo,  to  address  a  circular  letter 
to  each  state  society,  informing  them  of  my  intention  not  to  be  at 
the  next  meeting,  and  of  my  desire  not  to  be  re-chosen  president. 
The  vice-president  is  also  informed  of  this,  that  the  business  of  the 
society  may  not  be  impeded  by  my  absence.  Under  these  circum 
stances,  it  will  readily  be  perceived  that  I  could  not  appear  at  the 
same  time  and  place,  on  any  other  occasion,  without  giving 
offence  to  a  very  respectable  and  deserving  part  of  the  community, 
— the  late  officers  of  the  American  army." 

The  meeting  of  the  convention  was  postponed  to  a  day  subse 
quent  to  that  of  the  meeting  of  the  Cincinnati.  This  removed  one 
of  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  Washington's  acceptance  of  a  seat 
in  the  convention,  and,  joined  with  the  importance  of  the  call,  and 
his  own  eager  desire  to  advance  the  public  interest,  finally  induced 
his  compliance  with  the  wishes  of  his  friends. 

The  convention  met  in  Philadelphia,  in  May,  and  unanimously 
chose  George  Washington  for  their  president.  On  the  17th  of  Sep 
tember,  1787,  they  closed  their  labours,  and  submitted  the  result 
to  Congress,  with  their  opinion,  «  that  it  should  be  submitted  to  a 
convention  of  delegates  chosen,  in  each  state,  by  the  people 
thereof,  under  the  recommendation  of  its  legislature,  for  their  assent 
and  ratification." 

By  this  new  form  of  government,  ample  powers  were  given  to 
Congress,  without  the  intervention  of  the  states,  for  every  purpose 
that  national  dignity,  interest,  or  happiness  required. 

The  ablest  pens  and  most  eloquent  tongues  were  employed  for 
and  against  its  acceptance.  In  this  animated  contest,  Washington 
took  no  part.  Having  with  his  sword  vindicated  the  right  of  his 


488  LIFE    OF   WASHINGTON. 

country  to  self-government,  and  having  with  his  advice  aided 
in  digesting  an  efficient  form  of  government  which  he  most 
thoroughly  approved,  it  would  seem  as  though  he  wished  the  peo 
ple  to  decide  for  themselves,  whether  to  accept  or  reject  it. 

Yet  the  name  of  Washington,  at  the  head  o£such  a  list  of  wor 
thies  as  would  reflect  honour  on  any  country,  had  its  proper  weight 
with  the  enlightened,  and  with  almost  all  the  well-disposed  among 
the  less  informed  citizens,  and  the  Constitution  was  adopted.  To 
the  eternal  honour  of  America  among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  it 
was  adopted  in  spite  of  the  obstacles,  which  in  any  other  country 
would  have  been  insurmountable  ;  in  spite  of  the  doubts  and  fears 
which  well-meaning  prejudice  creates  for  itself,  and  which  party 
so  artfully  inflames  into  stubbornness  ;  in  spite  of  the  vice  which 
it  has  subjected  to  restraint,  and  which  is  therefore  its  immortal 
and  implacable  foe  ;  in  spite  of  the  oligarchies  in  some  of  the 
states  from  whom  it  snatched  dominion  ;  it  was  adopted,  and  our 
country  enjoys  one  more  invaluable  chance  for  its  union  and  hap 
piness  ;  invaluable !  if  the  retrospect  of  the  dangers  we  have  es 
caped  shall  sufficiently  inculcate  the  principles  we  have  esta 
blished.* 

The  Constitution  being  accepted  by  eleven  states,  and  preparatory 
measures  being  taken  for  bringing  it  into  operation,  all  eyes  were 
turned  to  Washington,  as  the  fittest  man  for  the  office  of  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States.  His  correspondents  began  to  press 
his  acceptance  of  the  high  office,  as  essential  to  the  well-being  of 
his  country. 

To  those  who  think  that  Washington  was  like  other  men,  it  will 
scarcely  appear  possible,  that  supreme  magistracy  possessed  no 
charms  sufficient  to  tempt  him  from  his  beloved  retirement,  when 
he  was  healthy  and  strong,  and  only  fifty-seven  years  old.  But  if 
an  opinion  can  be  formed  of  his  real  sentiments  from  the  tenor  of 
his  life  and  confidential  communications  to  his  most  intimate 
friends,  a  conviction  will  be  produced,  that  his  acceptance  of  the 
Presidency  of  the  United  States  was  the  result  of  a  victory  ob 
tained  by  a  sense  of  duty  over  his  inclinations,  and  was  a  real 
sacrifice  of  the  latter  to  the  former. 

In  a  letter  to  Colonel  Henry  Lee,  Washington  observes  : 

"  Notwithstanding  my  advanced  season  of  life,  my  increasing 
fondness  for  agricultural  amusements,  and  my  growing  love  of 
retirement,  augment  and  confirm  my  decided  predilection  for  the 
character  of  a  private  citizen  ;  yet  it  will  be  no  one  of  these 

*  Fisher  Ames. 


THE    PRESIDENCY.  489 

motives,  nor  the  hazard  to  which  my  former  reputation  might  be 
exposed,  nor  the  terror  of  encountering  new  fatigues  and  troubles, 
that  would  deter  me  from  an  acceptance,  but  a  belief  that  some  other 
person  wrho  had  less  pretence  and  less  inclination  to  be  excused, 
could  execute  all  the  duties  full  as  satisfactorily  as  myself.  To  say 
more  would  be  indiscreet,  as  a  disclosure  of  a  refusal  beforehand 
might  incur  the  application  of  the  fable,  in  which  the  fox  is  repre 
sented  as  undervaluing  the  grapes  he  could  not  reach.  You  will 
perceive,  my  dear  sir,  by  what  is  here  observed,  (and  which  you 
will  be  pleased  to  consider  in  the  light  of  a  confidential  communi 
cation,)  that  my  inclinations  will  dispose  and  decide  me  to  remain 
as  I  am,  unless  a  clear  and  insurmountable  conviction  should  be 
impressed  on  my  mind,  that  some  very  disagreeable  consequences 
must  in  all  human  probability  result  from  the  indulgence  of  my 
wishes." 

In  a  letter  to  Colonel  Hamilton,  Washington  observes  : 
"If  I  arn  not  grossly  deceived  in  myself,  I  should  unfeignedly 
rejoice,  in  case  the  electors,  by  giving  their  votes  to  some  other 
person,  would  save  me  from  the  dreadful  dilemma  of  being  forced 
to  accept  or  refuse.  If  that  may  not  be,  I  am,  in  the  next  place, 
earnestly  desirous  of  searching  out  the  truth,  and  of  knowing  whe 
ther  there  does  not  exist  a  probability  that  the  government  would 
just  as  happily  and  effectually  be  carried  into  execution  without 
my  aid  as  with  it.  I  am  truly  solicitous  to  obtain  all  the  previous 
information  which  the  circumstances  will  afford,  and  to  determine 
(when  the  determination  can  no  longer  be  postponed)  according  to 
the  principles  of  right  reason,  and  the  dictates  of  a  clear  con 
science,  without  too  great  a  reference  to  the  unforeseen  conse 
quence  which  may  affect  my  person  or  reputation.  Until  that 
period,  I  may  fairly  hold  myself  open  to  conviction,  though  I  allow 
your  sentiments  to  have  weight  in  them  ;  and  I  shall  not  pass  by 
your  arguments,  without  giving  them  as  dispassionate  a  considera 
tion  as  I  can  possibly  bestow  upon  them. 

"In  taking  a  survey  of  the  subject,  in  whatever  point  of  light 
I  have  been  able  to  place  it,  I  will  not  suppress  the  acknowledg 
ment,  my  dear  sir,  that  I  have  always  felt  a  kind  of  gloom  upon 
my  mind,  as  often  as  I  have  been  taught  to  expect  I  might,  and 
perhaps,  must  be  called  upon  ere  long  to  make  the  decision.  You 
will,  I  am  well  assured,  believe  the  assertion,  (though  I  have  little 
expectation  it  would  gain  credit  from  those  who  are  less  acquainted 
with  me,)  that  if  I  should  receive  the  appointment,  and  should  be 
prevailed  upon  to  accept  it,  the  acceptance  would  be  attended  with 


490  LIFE    OF   WASHINGTON. 

raore  difficulty  and  reluctance  than  I  ever  experienced  before.  It 
would  be,  however,  with  a  fixed  and  sole  determination  of  lending 
whatever  assistance  might  be  in  my  power  to  promote  the  public 
weal,  in  hopes  that  at  a  convenient  and  early  period  my  services 
might  be  dispensed  with  ;  and  that  I  might*  be  permitted  once 
more  to  retire,  to  pass  an  unclouded  evening  after  the  stormy  day 
of  life,  in  the  bosom  of  domestic  tranquillity." 

In  a  letter  to  General  Lincoln,  Washington  observes,  "I  may, 
however,  with  great  sincerity,  and  I  believe  without  offending 
against  modesty  and  propriety,  say  to  you,  that  I  most  heartily  wish 
the  choice  to  which  you  allude  might  not  fall  upon  me  ;  and  that 
if  it  should,  I  must  reserve  to  myself  the  right  of  making  up  my 
final  decision,  at  the  last  moment,  when  it  can  be  brought  into  one 
view,  and  when  the  expediency  or  inexpediency  of  a  refusal  can  be 
more  judiciously  determined  than  at  present.  But  be  assured,  my 
dear  sir,  if,  from  any  inducement,  I  shall  be  persuaded  ultimately 
to  accept,  it  will  not  be,  (so  for  as  I  know  my  own  heart,)  from 
any  of  a  private  or  personal  nature.  Every  personal  consideration 
conspires  to  rivet  me  (if  I  may  use  the  expression)  to  retire 
ment.  At  my  time  of  life,  and,  under  my  circumstances,  nothing 
in  this  world  can  ever  draw  me  from  it,  unless  it  be  a  conviction 
that  the  partiality  of  my  countrymen  had  made  my  services  abso 
lutely  necessary,  joined  to  a  fear  that  my  refusal  might  induce  a 
belief  that  I  preferred  the  conservation  of  my  own  reputation  and 
private  ease  to  the  good  of  my  country.  After  all,  if  I  should  con 
ceive  myself  in  a  manner  constrained  to  accept,  I  call  Heaven  to 
witness,  that  this  very  act  would  be  the  greatest  sacrifice  of  my 
personal  feelings  and  wishes  that  ever  I  have  been  called  upon  to 
make.  It  would  be  to  forego  repose  and  domestic  enjoyment,  for 
trouble,  perhaps  for  public  obloquy ;  for  I  should  consider  myself 
as  entering  upon  an  unexplored  field,  enveloped  on  every  side  with 
clouds  and  darkness. 

"From  this  embarrassing  situation,  I  had  naturally  supposed 
that  my  declarations  at  the  close  of  the  war  would  have  saved  me, 
and  that  my  sincere  intentions,  then  publicly  made  known,  would 
have  effectually  precluded  me  for  ever  afterwards  from  being 
looked  upon  as  a  candidate  for  any  office.  This  hope,  as  a  last 
anchor  of  worldly  happiness  in  old  age,  I  had  carefully  preserved, 
until  the  public  papers  and  private  letters  from  my  correspond 
ents  in  almost  every  quarter,  taught  me  to  apprehend  that  I  might 
soon  be  obliged  to  answer  the  question,  whether  I  would  go  again 
into  public  life  or  not." 


THE    PRESIDENCY.  491 

In  a  letter  to  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette,  Washington  ob 
serves  : — 

"  Your  sentiments,  indeed,  coincide  much  more  nearly  with 
those  of  my  other  friends  than  with  my  own  feelings.  In  truth, 
my  difficulties  increase  and  magnify,  as  I  draw  towards  the  period 
when,  according  to  the  common  belief,  it  will  be  necessary  for 
me  to  give  a  definitive  answer  in  one  way  or  other.  Should  cir 
cumstances  render  it  a  matter  inevitably  necessary  to  be  in  the 
affirmative,  be  assured,  my  dear  sir,  I  shall  assume  the  task  with 
the  most  unfeigned  reluctance,  and  with  a  real  diffidence,  for 
which  I  shall  probably  receive  no  credit  from  the  world.  If  I 
know  my  own  heart,  nothing  short  of  a  conviction  of  duty  will 
induce  me  again  to  take  an  active  part  in  public  affairs.  And  in 
that  case,  if  I  can  form  a  plan  for  my  own  conduct,  my  endea 
vours  shall  be  unremittingly  exerted  (even  at  the  hazard  of  former 
fame  or  present  popularity)  to  extricate  my  country  from  the 
embarrassments  in  which  it  is  entangled  through  want  of  credit, 
and  to  establish  a  general  system  of  policy,  which,  if  pursued, 
will  ensure  permanent  felicity  to  the  Commonwealth.  I  think  I 
see  a  path  as  clear  and  as  direct  as  a  ray  of  light,  which  leads 
to  the  attainment  of  that  object.  Nothing  but  harmony,  honesty, 
industry,  and  frugality,  are  necessary  to  make  us  a  great  and  a 
happy  people.  Happily  the  present  posture  of  affairs,  and  the 
prevailing  disposition  of  my  countrymen,  promise  to  co-operate 
in  establishing  those  four  great  and  essential  pillars  of  public 
felicity." 

Before  the  election  of  a  President  came  on,  so  universal  was 
the  expectation  that  Washington  would  be  elected,  that  numer 
ous  applications  were  made  to  him,  in  anticipation,  for  offices  in 
the  government,  which  would  be  in  his  gift.  To  one  of  such  ap 
plicants  he  wrote,  as  follows  : — 

"  Should  it  become  absolutely  necessary  for  me  to  occupy  the 
station  in  which  your  letter  presupposes  me,  I  have  determined 
to  go  into  it  perfectly  free  from  all  engagements  of  every  nature 
whatsoever.  A  conduct  in  conformity  to  this  resolution  would 
enable  me,  in  balancing  the  various  pretensions  of  different  can 
didates  for  appointments,  to  act  with  a  sole  reference  to  justice 
and  the  public  good.  This  is,  in  substance,  the  answer  that  I  have 
given  to  all  applications  (and  they  are  not  few)  which  have  already 
been  made."  » 

For  Washington,  it  was  impossible  to  have  rivals.  Accord 
ingly  he  was  soon  known  to  have  been  chosen  President  of  the 


492 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


United  States.  As  a  general  and  a  patriot,  he  had  already  filled 
the  measure  of  his  glory  ;  there  was  no  fame  left  for  him  to  excel 
but  his  own,  and  that  task,  the  mightiest  of  all  his  labours,  was 
now  about  to  be  accomplished. 

The  following  remarks  on  Washington's  secend  acceptance  of 
the  office  of  President,  occur  in  the  recent  work  of  Mr.  Headley, 
entitled  "  Washington  and  his  Generals." 

"  Though  he  had  reached  his  threescore  years,  and  pined  for  the 
rest  of  a  quiet  home,  he  again  took  on  him  the  burdens  of  office. 
The  nation  prospered  under  his  rule.  Words  of  wrisdom  and 
piety  dropped  from  his  lips,  and  stretching  out  his  arms  over  the 
Union,  both  the  foundation  and  topmost  stone  of  which  he  had  laid, 
he  gave  it  his  last  blessing.  Had  his  counsels  been  obeyed,  and 
all  his  successors  followed  in  his  footsteps,  this  nation  would  not 
only  have  stood  first  among  the  powers  of  the  earth,  but  been  the 
especial  favourite  of  Heaven." 


WASHINGTON. 
From  ;i  sketch,  made  for  a  portrait  as  large  as  life,  painted  for  the  state  of  Delaware,  by  D.  A.  Voi  O/.AN. 


THE    FIRST    PRESIDENCY. 


495 


CHAPTER    XXII. 


HE  impotence  of  the  general  govern 
ment  under  the  Articles  of  Confedera 
tion,  and  the  dilatory  and  vexatious 
manner  in  which  its  business  was 
of  necessity  conducted,  had  produced 
a  great  want  of  punctuality  among  the 
members  of  Congress.  Although  the 
new  Constitution,  which  had  been  the 
theme  of  popular  discussion  ever  since 
its  promulgation,  was  appointed  to  go 
into  operation  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1787,  a  House  of  Representatives 

could  not  be  formed  until  the  1st  of  April,  nor  a  Senate  until  the 
6th  of  that  month.  The  delay  thus  produced  was  compared,  by 
General  Washington  himself,  to  a  reprieve,  so  great  was  the  reluc 
tance  which  he  felt  to  enter  upon  his  new  dignity.  Writing,  in 
confidence,  to  General  Knox,  he  says  : 


496  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

«  My  movements  to  the  chair  of  government  will  be  accom 
panied  by  feelings  not  unlike  those  of  a  culprit  who  is  going  to  the 
place  of  his  execution  ;  so  unwilling  am  I,  in  the  evening  of  life, 
nearly  consumed  in  public  cares,  to  quit  a  peaceful  abode  for  an 
ocean  of  difficulties,  without  that  competency  of  political  skill,  abil 
ities,  and  inclination,  which  are  necessary  to  manage  the  helm. 
I  am  sensible  that  I  am  embarking  the  voice  of  the  people,  and  a 
good  name  of  my  own  on  this  voyage  ;  but  what  returns  will  be 
made  for  them  Heaven  alone  can  foretell.  Integrity  and  firmness 
are  all  I  can  promise ;  these,  be  the  voyage  long  or  short,  shall 
never  forsake  me,  although  I  may  be  deserted  by  all  men  ;  for,  of 
the  consolations  which  are  to  be  derived  from  these,  under  any 
circumstances,  the  world  cannot  deprive  me." 

Similar  sentiments  were  expressed  in  letters  written  about  this 
period  to  General  Wayne,  General  Schuyler,  Mr.  Hamilton,  and 
others. 

Twelve  senators  being  in  attendance,  on  the  6th  of  April,  John 
Langdon,  of  New  Hampshire,  was  elected  president  of  that  body, 
for  the  purpose  of  opening  and  counting  the  votes  for  President 
of  the  United  States.  A  message,  announcing  the  presence  of  a 
quorum,  and  the  election  of  a  temporary  president,  was  then  sent 
to  the  House  of  Representatives.  That  body  repaired  to  the  Sen 
ate  chamber,  and  the  votes  of  the  electoral  colleges  were  examined 
in  the  presence  of  both  houses  ;  Mr.  Patterson,  of  New  Jersey,  on 
the  part  of  the  Senate,  and  Mr.  Heister,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Mr. 
Parker,  of  Virginia,  on  the  part  of  the  House,  acting  as  tellers. 
The  result,  as  declared  by  the  president  of  the  Senate,  was,  that 
George  Washington  was  unanimously  elected  President,  and  John 
Adams,  Vice-president  of  the  United  States.  In  compliance  with 
a  resolution  of  the  House,  the  Senate  directed  that  the  persons 
elected  be  notified  thereof.  In  the  course  of  the  few  following 
days,  the  necessary  preparations  for  the  reception  of  the  President 
and  the  commencement  of  his  administration  were  made  by  the 
joint  committee  of  the  two  houses  ;  and  Mr.  Osgood,  the  proprietor 
of  the  house  lately  occupied  by  the  president  of  Congress,  was 
engaged  in  putting  that  house  and  its  furniture  in  proper  con 
dition  for  the  residence  and  use  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States.  His  temporary  accommodation,  at  the  expense  of  the 
United  States,  was  further  provided  for  by  a  joint  resolution  of 
both  houses.* 

Charles  Thomson,  the  secretary  of  the  Continental  Congress, 
*  Marshall. 


RECEPTION    AT    ALEXANDRIA.  497 

officially  announced  his  election  to  the  chief  magistracy  of  the 
Union  to  General  Washington,  at  Mount  Vernon,  on  the  14th  of 
April,  1789.  Having  previously  determined  upon  the  course  which 
he  would  pursue,  in  the  event  of  the  choice  of  his  fellow-citizens 
falling  upon  him,  he  complied  with  their  wishes,  and  prepared  to 
set  out  immediately  for  the  seat  of  government.  Two  days  after 
receiving  notice  of  his  election,  he  "  bade  adieu,"  in  the  words  of 
his  diary,  « to  Mount  Vernon,  to  private  life,  and  to  domestic  feli 
city  ;  and  with  a  mind  impressed  with  more  anxious  and  painful 
sensations  than  I  have  words  to  express,  set  out  for  New  York,  in 
company  with  Mr.  Thomson  and  Colonel  Humphries,  with  the 
best  disposition  to  render  service  to  my  country  in  obedience  to  its 
call,  but  with  less  hope  of  answering  its  expectations."  He  was 
met  on  the  road  by  a  number  of  gentlemen  of  Alexandria,  who 
had  come  to  invite  and  escort  him  to  a  public  dinner  in  that  city. 
All  its  inhabitants  united  to  do  him  honour,  and  their  address,  con 
sidered  as  the  production  of  the  minds  and  hearts  of  his  neighbours 
and  friends,  deserves  a  place  in  every  memoir  of  his  life. 

"  Again,"  said  they,  "  your  country  commands  your  care. 
Obedient  to  its  wishes,  unmindful  of  your  ease,  we  see  you  again 
relinquishing  the  bliss  of  retirement ;  and  this,  too,  at  a  period 
of  life  when  nature  itself  seems  to  authorize  a  preference  of  re 
pose  ! 

"  Not  to  extol  your  glory  as  a  soldier  ;  not  to  pour  forth  our 
gratitude  for  past  services ;  not  to  acknowledge  the  justice  of  the 
unexampled  honour  which  has  been  conferred  upon  you  by  the 
spontaneous  and  unanimous  suffrages  of  three  millions  of  free 
men  in  your  election  to  the  supreme  magistracy ;  nor  to  admire 
the  patriotism  which  directs  your  conduct,  do  your  neighbours 
and  friends  now  address  you.  Themes  less  splendid  but  more 
endearing  impress  our  minds.  The  first  and  best  of  citizens  must 
leave  us  :  our  aged  must  lose  their  ornament  ;  our  youth  their 
model ;  our  agriculture  its  improver  ;  our  commerce  its  friend  ; 
our  infant  academy  its  protector  ;  our  poor  their  benefactor  ;  and 
the  interior  navigation  of  the  Potomac  (an  event  replete  with  the 
most  extensive  utility,  already,  by  your  unremitted  exertions, 
brought  into  partial  use)  its  institutor  and  promoter. 

"  Farewell !  Go  !  and  make  a  grateful  people  happy  ;  a  people 
who  will  be  doubly  grateful  when  they  contemplate  this  recent 
sacrifice  for  their  interest. 

"  To  that  Being  who  maketh  and  unmaketh  at  his  will,  we  com 
mend  you,  and  after  the  accomplishment  of  the  arduous  business 
63  2x2 


498  LIFE    OF   WASHINGTON. 

to  which  you  are  called,  may  he  restore  to  us  again  the  best  of 
men,  and  the  most  beloved  fellow-citizen." 

General  Washington  returned  an  answer  to  this  address,  ex 
pressing  the  emotions  he  felt  at  leaving  them,  and  his  desire  that 
they  might  meet  happily  again,  as  they  had  dtme  after  the  long 
and  distressing  separation  occasioned  by  the  war.  In  the  after 
noon  of  the  same  day,  he  was  escorted  by  the  people  to  George 
town,  where  a  delegation  from  Maryland  received  him.  Every 
where  his  journey  was  a  continued  scene  of  public  rejoicing  and 
congratulation.  At  Philadelphia,  the  bridge  over  which  he  crossed 
the  Schuylkill  was  decorated  by  a  laurel  shrubbery  on  each  side,  and 
a  triumphal  arch  of  laurel  was  erected  at  each  end.  The  road  was 
blocked  up  by  masses  of  people,  eager  to  catch  a  sight  of  their -favour 
ite,  and  at  night  the  whole  city  was  illuminated.  The  roaring  of  can 
non  at  each  successive  town  he  visited,  gave  notice  of  his  approach  to 
the  people  of  the  next,  and  they  immediately  made  ready  to  receive 
him.  At  Trenton,  the  ladies  were  prepared  to  testify,  in  a  novel 
manner,  their  grateful  sense  of  the  deliverance  from  the  power  of  a 
brutal  enemy,  which  he  had  wrought  for  them  twelve  years  before. 
On  the  bridge  over  the  creek  which  passes  through  the  town,  a 
triumphal  arch  was  erected,  highly  ornamented  with  laurels  and 
flowers  ;  and  supported  by  thirteen  pillars,  each  entwined  with 
evergreen.  In  large  gilt  letters,  on  the  front  of  the  arch,  was  the 
inscription — 

"THE  DEFENDER  OF  THE  MOTHERS  WILL  BE  THE  PROTECTOR  OF  THE 
DAUGHTERS." 

On  another  portion  of  the  arch  were  conspicuously  displayed  the 
dates  of  the  two  memorable  occasions  in  which  the  valour  of  the 
commander-in-chief  was  displayed  at  Trenton.  Here  he  was  met 
by  a  party  of  matrons  leading  their  daughters,  clothed  in  white, 
and  carrying  baskets  of  flowers  in  their  hands.  The  latter  sang, 
with  great  effect,  the  following  ode,  strewing  their  flowers  before 
him  when  they  reached  the  last  line  : 

"  Welcome  mighty  chief,  once  more 
Welcome  to  this  grateful  shore ; 
Now  no  mercenary  foe 
Aims  again  the  fatal  blow, 
Aims  at  THEE,  the  fatal  blow. 

"  Virgins  fair  and  matrons  grave, 
Those  thy  conquering  arms  did  save, 
Build  for  THKE  triumphal  bowers; 
Strew  ye  fair  his  way  with  flowers, 
Strew  your  Hero's  way  with  flowers." 


TRIUMPHAL    PROGRESS.  499 

At  Brunswick,  the  governor  of  New  Jersey  met  him  and  accom 
panied  him  to  Elizabethtown  Point,  the  committee  of  Congress  also 
forming  a  part  of  the  great  military  parade  which  escorted  him  thi 
ther.  The  governor  and  authorities  of  New  Jersey  having  taken  leave 
of  him,  he  embarked  with  the  deputation  from  Congress,  in  a  barge 
manned  by  thirteen  branch  pilots,  which  had  been  prepared  by  the 
citizens  of  New  York.  From  this  he  landed  on  the  23d  of  April  at 
Murray's  Wharf,  which  had  been  magnificently  prepared  for  that 
purpose.  There,  the  governor  of  New  York  received  him  and  con 
ducted  him  with  military  honours  amid  an  immense  concourse  of 
people,  to  the  apartments  prepared  for  him.  A  general  illumina 
tion  at  night  followed  this  day  of  extravagant  joy.  Yet  all  these 
public  testimonials  of  his  popularity  failed  to  divert  the  attention 
of  General  Washington  from  the  arduous  and  fearful  duties  and 
responsibilities  he  was  about  to  assume.  His  solid  judgment  was 
neither  perverted  nor  corrupted  thereby,  and  the  proofs  of  confi 
dence  thus  afforded,  while  they  certainly  gave  him  reason  for  pre 
sent  rejoicing,  filled  him  with  anxieties  for  the  future.  In  his  jour 
nal,  speaking  of  the  escort  which  accompanied  him  from  Eliza 
bethtown  Point  to  New  York,  he  says:  "The  display  of  boats 
which  attended  and  joined  on  this  occasion,  some  with  vocal  and 
others  with  instrumental  music  on  board,  the  decorations  of  the 
ships,  the  roar  of  cannon,  and  the  loud  acclamations  of  the  people, 
which  rent  the  air  as  I  passed  along  the  wharves,  filled  my  mind 
with  sensations  as  painful  (contemplating  the  reverse  of  this  scene, 
which  may  be  the  case  after  all  my  labours  to  do  good)  as  they 
were  pleasing." 

Two  days  before  the  arrival  of  General  Washington,  Mr.  Adams, 
having  arrived  in  New  York,  was  inducted  into  the  chair  of  the 
vice-president.  Upon  taking  his  seat,  he  addressed  the  Senate  in 
a  neat  speech,  in  which  he  alluded  to  the  formation  of  the  new 
government  and  character  of  the  chief  magistrate  elect,  in  the  fol 
lowing  terms : 

"  It  is  with  satisfaction  that  I  congratulate  the  people  of  America 
on  the  formation  of  a  national  constitution,  and  the  fair  prospect  of 
a  consistent  administration  of  a  government  of  la\vs;  on  the  acqui 
sition  of  a  House  of  Representatives  chosen  by  themselves,  of  a 
Senate  thus  composed  by  their  own  state  legislatures ;  and  on  the 
prospect  of  an  executive  authority  in  the  hands  of  one  whose  por 
trait  I  shall  not  presume  to  draw.  Were  I  blessed  with  powers  to 
do  justice  to  his  character,  it  would  be  impossible  to  increase  the 
confidence  or  affection  of  his  country,  or  make  the  smallest  addition 


500  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

to  his  glory.  This  can  only  be  effected  by  a  discharge  of  the  pre 
sent  exalted  trust,  on  the  same  principles,  with  the  same  abilities  and 
virtues  which  have  uniformly  appeared  in  all  his  former  conduct, 
public  or  private.  May  I,  nevertheless,  be  indulged  to  inquire,  if 
we  look  over  the  catalogues  of  the  first  magistrates  of  nations, 
whether  they  have  been  denominated  presidents  or  consuls,  kings 
or  princes,  where  shall  we  find  one  whose  commanding  talents  and 
virtues,  whose  overruling  good  fortune  have  so  completely  united 
all  hearts  and  voices  in  his  favour  ?  Who  enjoyed  the  esteem 
and  admiration  of  foreign  nations  and  fellow-citizens  with  equal 
unanimity  ?  Qualities  so  uncommon  are  no  common  blessings  to 
the  country  that  possess  them.  By  these  great  qualities  and  their 
benign  effects,  has  Providence  marked  out  the  head  of  this  nation 
with  a  hand  so  distinctly  visible,  as  to  have  been  seen  by  all  men, 
and  mistaken  by  none."* 

On  Thursday,  April  30th,  the  preliminaries  being  adjusted,  the 
two  houses  of  Congress  assembled  in  the  Senate  chamber,  whither 
General  Washington  was  conducted  by  the  joint  committee,  and 
introduced  to  the  chair.  All  then  proceeded  to  the  gallery  in  front 
of  the  Senate  chamber,  where  the  chancellor  of  the  state  of  New 
York  administered  the  oath  in  the  presence  of  both  houses,  and  in 
view  of  a  great  concourse  of  people,  who  greeted  his  entry  upon 
the  duties  of  office,  wYith  loud  and  long-repeated  applause.  Return 
ing  to  the  Senate  chamber,  he  delivered  the  following  address  :— 

«  Fellow  citizens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives: — 
Among  the  vicissitudes  incident  to  life,  no  event  could  have 
filled  me  with  greater  anxieties,  than  that  of  which  the  notification 
was  transmitted,  by  your  order,  and  received  on  the  14th  day  of 
the  present  month.  On  the  one  hand,  I  was  summoned  by  my 
country,  wrhose  voice  I  can  never  hear,  but  with  veneration  and  love, 
from  a  retreat  which  I  had  chosen,  with  the  fondest  predilection, 
and,  in  my  flattering  hopes,  with  an  immutable  decision,  as  the 
asylum  of  my  declining  years  ;  a  retreat  which  was  rendered  every 
day  more  necessary,  as  well  as  more  dear  to  me,  by  the  addition 
of  habit  to  inclination,  and  of  frequent  interruptions  to  my  health, 
to  the  gradual  waste  committed  on  it  by  time.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  magnitude  and  difficulty  of  the  trust  to  which  the  voice  of  my 
country  called  me,  being  sufficient  to  awaken,  in  the  wisest  and  most 
experienced  of  her  citizens,  a  distrustful  scrutiny  into  his  qualifi 
cations,  could  not  but  overwhelm  with  despondence  one  \vh;>, 

*  Marshall. 


INAUGURAL    ADDRESS.  501 

inheriting  inferior  endowments  from  nature,  and  unpractised  in  the 
duties  of  civil  administration,  ought  to  be  peculiarly  conscious  of 
his  own  deficiencies.  In  this  conflict  of  emotions,  all  I  dare  aver 
is,  that  it  has  been  my  faithful  study  to  collect  my  duty  from  a 
just  appreciation  of  every  circumstance  by  which  it  might  be 
affected.  All  I  dare  hope  is,  that  if,  in  executing  this  task,  I  have 
been  too  much  swayed  by  a  grateful  remembrance  of  former  in 
stances,  or,  by  an  affectionate  sensibility  to  this  transcendant  proof 
of  the  confidence  of  my  fellow-citizens  ;  and  have  thence  too  little 
consulted  my  incapacity,  as  well  as  disinclination,  for  the  weighty 
and  untried  cares  before  me,  my  error  will  be  palliated  by  the 
motives  which  misled  me,  and  its  consequences  be  judged  by  my 
country,  with  some  share  of  the  partiality  in  which  they  originated. 
"Such  being  the  impressions  under  which  I  have,  in  obedience 
to  the  public  summons,  repaired  to  the  present  station  ;  it  would 
be  peculiarly  improper  to  omit,  in  this,  my  first  official  act,  my 
fervent  supplications  to  that  Almighty  Being  who  rules  over  the 
universe  ;  who  presides  in  the  councils  of  nations,  and  whose  pro 
vidential  aids  can  supply  every  human  defect,  that  his  benediction 
may  consecrate  to  the  liberties  and  happiness  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  a  government  instituted  by  themselves  for  these 
essential  purposes,  and  may  enable  every  instrument  employed  in 
its  administration  to  execute  with  success  the  functions  allotted  to 
his  charge.  In  tendering  this  homage  to  the  great  Author  of 
every  public  and  private  good,  I  assure  myself  that  it  expresses 
your  sentiments  not  less  than  my  own ;  nor  those  of  my  fellow- 
citizens  at  large,  less  than  either.  No  people  can  be  bound  to 
acknowledge  and  adore  the  invisible  hand  which  conducts  the 
affairs  of  men,  more  than  the  people  of  the  United  States.  Every 
step,  by  which  they  have  advanced  to  the  character  of  an  inde 
pendent  nation,  seems  to  have  been  distinguished  by  some  token 
of  providential  agency ;  and,  in  the  important  revolution  just  ac 
complished  in  the  system  of  their  united  government,  the  tranquil 
deliberations  and  voluntary  consent  of  so  many  distinct  communi 
ties,  from  wrhich  the  event  has  resulted,  cannot  be  compared  with 
the  means  by  which  most  governments  have  been  established, 
without  some  return  of  pious  gratitude,  along  with  an  humble  anti 
cipation  of  the  future  blessings  which  the  past  would  seem  to  pre 
sage.  These  reflections,  arising  out  of  the  present  crisis,  have 
forced  themselves  too  strongly  on  my  mind  to  be  suppressed. 
You  will  join  with  me,  I  trust,  in  thinking  that  there  are  none 


502  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

under  the  influence  of  which  the  proceedings  of  a  new  and  free 
government  can  more  auspiciously  commence. 

"  By  the  article  establishing  the  executive  department,  it  is 
made  the  duty  of  the  president,  <to  recommend  to  your  considera 
tion  such  measures  as  he  shall  judge  necessary  and  expedient.' 
The  circumstances  under  which  I  now  meet  you,  will  acquit  me 
from  entering  into  that  subject,  farther  than  to  refer  to  the  great 
constitutional  charter,  under  which  you  are  assembled;  and  which, 
in  defining  your  powers,  designates  the  objects  to  which  your 
attention  is  to  be  given.  It  will  be  more  consistent  with  those 
circumstances,  and  far  more  congenial  with  the  feelings  which 
actuate  me,  to  substitute,  in  place  of  a  recommendation  of  particu 
lar  measures,  the  tribute  that  is  due  to  the  talents,  the  rectitude, 
and  the  patriotism,  which  adorn  the  characters  selected  to  revise 
and  adopt  them.  In  these  honourable  qualifications,  I  behold  the 
surest  pledges,  that,  as  on  one  side,  no  local  prejudices  or  attach 
ments,  no  separate  views  nor  party  animosities,  will  misdirect  the 
comprehensive  and  equal  eye,  which  ought  to  watch  over  this  great 
assemblage  of  communities  and  interests  ;'  so,  on  another,  that  the 
foundations  of  our  national  policy  will  be  laid  in  the  pure  and 
immutable  principles  of  private  morality,  and  the  pre-eminence  of 
free  government  be  exemplified  by  all  the  attributes  which  can 
win  the  affections  of  its  citizens,  and  command  the  respect  of  the 
wrorld.  I  dwell  on  this  prospect,  with  every  satisfaction  which  an 
ardent  love  of  my  country  can  inspire :  since  there  is  no  truth  more 
thoroughly  established  than  that  there  exists,  in  the  economy  and 
course  of  nature,  an  indissoluble  union  between  virtue  and  happiness, 
between  duty  and  advantage,  between  the  genuine  maxims  of  an 
honest  and  magnanimous  policy,  and  the  solid  rewards  of  public 
prosperity  and  felicity  ;  since  we  ought  to  be  no  less  persuaded, 
that  the  propitious  smiles  of  Heaven  can  never  be  expected  on  a 
nation  that  disregards  the  eternal  rules  of  order  and  right,  which 
Heaven  itself  has  ordained:  and  since  the  preservation  of  the  sacred 
fire  of  liberty,  and  the  creating  of  the  republican  model  of  govern 
ment,  are  justly  considered  as  deeply,  perhaps,  as  finally  staked, 
on  the  experiment  intrusted  to  the  hands  of  the  American  people. 

"Besides  the  ordinary  objects  committed  to  your  care,  it  will 
remain  with  your  judgment  to  decide,  how  far  an  exercise  of  the 
occasional  power  delegated  by  the  fifth  article  of  the  Constitution, 
is  rendered  expedient  at  the  present  juncture,  by  the  nature  of 
objections  which  have  been  urged  against  the  system,  or  by  the 
degree  of  inquietude  which  has  given  birth  to  them.  Instead  of 


INAUGURAL    ADDRESS.  503 

undertaking  particular  recommendations  on  this  subject,  in  which 
I  could  be  guided  by  110  lights  derived  from  official  opportunities, 
I  shall  again  give  way  to  my  entire  confidence  in  your  discernment 
and  pursuit  for  the  public  good ;  for,  I  assure  myself,  that,  whilst 
you  carefully  avoid  every  alteration  which  might  endanger  the 
benefit  of  a  united  and  effective  government,  or  which  ought  to 
await  the  future  lessons  of  experience  ;  a  reverence  for  the  charac 
teristic  rights  of  freemen,  and  a  regard  for  the  public  harmony, 
will  sufficiently  influence  your  deliberations  on  the  question,  how 
far  the  former  can  be  more  impregnably  fortified,  or  the  latter  be 
safely  and  advantageously  promoted. 

"To  the  preceding  observations,  I  have  one  to  add,  which  will 
be  most  properly  addressed  to  the  House  of  Representatives.  It 
concerns  myself,  and  will,  therefore,  be  as  brief  as  possible.  When 
I  was  first  honoured  with  a  call  into  the  service  of  my  country, 
then  on  the  eve  of  an  arduous  struggle  for  its  liberties,  the  light  in 
which  I  contemplated  my  duty  required  that  I  should  renounce 
every  pecuniary  compensation.  From  this  resolution,  I  have  in  no 
instance  departed:  and  being  still  under  the  impressions  which 
produced  it,  I  must  decline,  as  inapplicable  to  myself,  any  share 
in  the  personal  emoluments  which  may  be  indispensably  included 
in  a  permanent  provision  for  the  Executive  Department;  and  must, 
accordingly,  pray,  that  the  pecuniary  estimates  for  the  station  in 
which  I  am  placed,  may,  during  my  continuance  in  it,  be  limited 
to  such  actual  expenditures  as  the  public  good  may  be  thought  to 
require. 

"Having  thus  imparted  to  you  my  sentiments,  as  they  have 
been  awakened  by  the  occasion  which  brings  us  together,  I  shall 
take  my  present  leave ;  but  not  without  resorting  once  more  to 
the  Benign  Parent  of  the  human  race,  in  humble  supplication, 
that,  since  he  has  been  pleased  to  favour  the  American  people  with 
opportunities  for  deliberating  in  perfect  tranquillity,  and  dispositions 
for  deciding,  with  unparalleled  unanimity,  on  a  form  of  government 
for  the  security  of  their  union,  and  the  advancement  of  their  happi 
ness  ;  so,  His  divine  blessing  may  be  equally  conspicuous  in  the 
enlarged  views,  the  temperate  consultations,  and  the  wise  measures, 
on  which  the  success  of  this  government  must  depend. 

« GEORGE  WASHINGTON." 

In  answer  to  the  speech  of  the  president,  the  Senate  prepared 
an  address,  which  was  presented  to  him  on  the  14th. 

"Sin, — We,  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  return  you  our  sin- 


504  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

cere  thanks  for  your  excellent  speech  delivered  to  both  houses  of 
Congress ;  congratulate  you  on  the  complete  organization  of  the 
federal  government,  and  felicitate  ourselves,  and  our  fellow-citizens 
on  your  elevation  to  the  office  of  President :  an  office  highly  im 
portant,  by  the  powers  constitutionally  annexed  to  it,  and  extremely 
honourable,  from  the  manner  in  which  the  appointment  is  made. 
The  unanimous  suffrage  of  the  elective  body,  in  your  favour,  is 
peculiarly  expressive  of  the  gratitude,  confidence,  and  affection,  of 
the  citizens  of  America ;  and  is  the  highest  testimonial  at  once  of 
your  merit  and  their  esteem.  We  are  sensible,  sir,  that  nothing 
but  the  voice  of  your  fellow  citizens  could  have  called  you  from  a 
retreat,  chosen  with  the  fondest  predilection,  endeared  by  habit, 
and  consecrated  to  the  repose  of  declining  years.  We  rejoice,  and 
with  us  all  America,  that,  in  obedience  to  the  call  of  our  common 
country,  you  have  returned  once  more  to  public  life.  In  you,  all 
parties  confide :  in  you,  all  interests  unite :  and  we  have  no  doubt 
that  your  past  services,  great  as  they  have  been,  will  be  equalled 
by  your  future  exertions ;  and  that  your  prudence  and  sagacity,  as 
a  statesman,  will  tend  to  avert  the  dangers  to  which  we  were  ex 
posed,  to  give  stability  to  the  present  government,  and  dignity  and 
splendour  to  that  country,  which  your  skill  and  valour  as  a  soldier 
so  eminently  contributed  to  raise  to  independence  and  empire. 

"  When  we  contemplate  the  coincidence  of  circumstances,  and 
the  wonderful  combination  of  causes,  which  gradually  prepared  the 
people  of  this  country  for  independence ;  when  we  contemplate 
the  rise,  progress,  and  termination  of  the  late  war,  which  gave 
them  a  name  among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  we  are,  with  you, 
unavoidably  led  to  acknowledge  and  adore  the  Great  Arbiter  of  the 
universe,  by  whom  empires  rise  and  fall.  A  review  of  the  many 
signal  instances  of  Divine  interposition,  in  favour  of  this  country, 
claims  our  most  pious  gratitude  :  and  permit  us,  sir,  to  observe, 
that,  among  the  great  events  which  have  led  to  the  formation  and 
establishment  of  a  federal  government,  we  esteem  your  acceptance 
of  the  office  of  president  as  one  of  the  most  propitious  and  im 
portant. 

"In  the  execution  of  the  trust  reposed  in  us,  we  shall  endeavour 
to  pursue  that  enlarged  and  liberal  policy  to  which  your  speech  so 
happily  directs.  We  are  conscious  that  the  prosperity  of  each  state 
is  inseparably  connected  with  the  welfare  of  all,  and  that,  in  pro^ 
moting  the  latter,  we  shall  effectually  advance  the  former.  In  full 
persuasion  of  this  truth,  it  shall  be  our  invariable  aim  to  divest 
ourselves  of  local  prejudices  and  attachments,  and  to  view  the 


ADDRESS    OF    CONGRESS.  505 

great  assemblage  of  communities  and  interests  committed  to  our 
charge  with  an  equal  eye.  We  feel,  sir,  the  force,  and  acknow 
ledge  the  justness  of  the  observation,  that  the  foundation  of  our 
national  policy  should  be  laid  in  private  morality :  if  individuals 
be  not  influenced  by  moral  principles,  it  is  in  vain  to  look  for 
public  virtue  ;  it  is,  therefore,  the  duty  of  legislatures  to  enforce, 
both  by  precept  and  example,  the  utility,  as  well  as  the  necessity, 
of  a  strict  adherence  to  the  rules  of  distributive  justice.  We  beg 
you  to  be  assured,  that  the  Senate  will  at  all  times  cheerfully  co 
operate  in  every  measure  which  may  strengthen  the  Union,  con 
duce  to  the  happiness,  or  secure  and  perpetuate  the  liberties  of  this 
great,  confederated  republic. 

"We  commend  you,  sir,  to  the  protection  of  Almighty  God, 
earnestly  beseeching  him  long  to  preserve  a  life,  so  valuable  and 
dear  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  ;  and  that  your  administra 
tion  may  be  prosperous  to  the  nation,  and  glorious  to  yourself." 

The  address  of  the  House,  in  answer  to  the  president's  speech, 
as  reported  by  Mr.  Madison,  and  accepted  by  the  house,  was  as 
follows : — 

"Sin, — The  representatives  of  the  people  of  the  United  States 
present  their  congratulations  on  the  event  by  which  your  fellow- 
citizens  have  attested  the  pre-eminence  of  your  merit.  You  have 
long  held  the  first  place  in  their  esteem ;  you  have  often  received 
tokens  of  their  affection ;  you  now  possess  the  only  proof  that  re 
mained  of  their  gratitude  for  your  services,  of  their  reverence  for 
your  wisdom,  and  of  their  confidence  in  your  virtues  ;  you  enjoy 
the  highest,  because  the  truest  honour,  of  being  the  first  magis 
trate,  by  the  unanimous  choice  of  the  freest  people  on  the  face  of 
the  earth. 

"We  well  knew  the  anxieties  with  which  you  have  obeyed  a 
summons,  from  a  repose  reserved  for  your  declining  years,  into 
public  scenes,  of  which  you  had  taken  your  leave  for  ever.  But 
the  obedience  was  due  to  the  occasion.  It  is  already  applauded 
by  the  universal  joy  which  welcomes  you  to  your  station  ;  and  we 
cannot  doubt,  that  it  will  be  rewarded  with  all  the  satisfaction  with 
which  an  ardent  love  for  your  fellow-citizens  must  review  success 
ful  efforts  to  promote  their  happiness. 

"This  anticipation  is  not  justified  merely  by  the  past  experience 

of  your  signal  services.     It  is  particularly  suggested  by  the  pious 

impressions  under  which  you  commence  your  administration,  and 

the  enlightened  maxims  by  which  you  mean  to  conduct  it.     We 

64  2  U 


506  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

feel,  with  yon,  the  strongest  obligations  to  adore  the  Invisible 
Hand,  which  has  led  the  American  people  through  so  many  diffi 
culties  ;  to  cherish  a  conscious  responsibility  for  the  destiny  of 
republican  liberty  ;  and  to  seek  the  only  sure  means  of  preserving 
and  recommending  the  precious  deposit,  in  a*system  of  legisla 
tion,  founded  on  the  principles  of  an  honest  policy,  and  directed 
by  the  spirit  of  a  diffusive  patriotism. 

"  The  question  arising  out  of  the  fifth  article  of  the  Constitution 
will  receive  all  the  attention  demanded  by  its  importance ;  and 
will,  we  trust,  be  decided  under  the  influence  of  all  the  considera 
tions  to  which  you  allude. 

« In  forming  the  pecuniary  provisions  for  the  executive  depart 
ment,  we  shall  not  lose  sight  of  a  wish  resulting  from  motives, 
which  give  it  a  peculiar  claim  to  our  regard.  Your  resolution,  in 
a  moment  critical  to  the  liberties  of  your  country,  to  renounce  all 
personal  emolument,  was  among  the  many  presages  of  your  patri 
otic  services,  which  have  been  amply  fulfilled  ;  and  your  scrupu 
lous  adherence  now,  to  the  law  then  imposed  on  yourself,  cannot 
fail  to  demonstrate  the  purity,  while  it  increases  the  lustre  of  a  cha 
racter  which  has  so  many  titles  to  admiration. 

"  Such  are  the  sentiments  which  we  have  thought  fit  to  address 
to  you.  They  flow  from  our  own  hearts  ;  and  we  verily  believe, 
that,  among  the  millions  we  represent,  there  is  not  a  virtuous  citi 
zen  whose  heart  will  disown  them. 

"All  that  remains  is,  that  we  join  in  our  fervent  supplications 
for  the  blessings  of  Heaven  on  our  country,  and  that  we  add  our 
own,  for  the  choicest  of  these  blessings,  on  the  most  beloved  of  her 
citizens." 

The  President,  the  Vice-president,  with  the  two  Houses  of 
Congress,  proceeded,  after  the  ceremony  of  inauguration,  to  St. 
Paul's  Chapel,  where  Divine  service  was  performed  by  the  chap 
lain  to  Congress,  after  which  the  President  was  re-conducted  to 
his  house  by  a  committee  appointed  for  that  purpose. 

In  the  evening,  a  very  ingenious  and  splendid  show  of  fire 
works  was  exhibited.  Between  the  Fort  and  the  Bowling-Green 
stood  conspicuous  a  superb  and  brilliant  transparent  painting,  in 
the  centre  of  which  was  the  portrait  of  the  President,  represented 
under  the  emblem  of  Fortitude  ;  on  his  right  hand  was  Justice, 
representing  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  on  his  left,  Wis 
dom,  representing  the  House  of  Representatives. 

The  following  animated  account  of  the  commencement  of  the 
domestic  life  of  General  Washington  in  his  new  position,  we  ex- 


THE    PRESIDENT'S    HOUSEHOLD.  507 

tract  from  the  "Recollections  and  Private  Memoirs  of  the  Life 
and  Character  of  Washington,"  by  his  honoured  relative,  G.  W.  P. 
Custis,  Esq.  It  will  afford  an  interesting  and  not  uninstructive 
comparison  of  the  states  of  society  at  the  commencement  of  the 
constitutional  government,  and  at  the  present  time. 

"In  the  then  limited  extent  and  improvement  of  the  city,  there 
was  some  difficulty  in  selecting  a  mansion  for  the  residence  of  the 
chief  magistrate,  and  a  household  suitable  to  his  rank  and  station. 
Osgood's  house,  a  mansion  of  very  moderate  extent,  was  at  length 
fixed  upon,  situated  in  Cherry  street.  There  the  President  became 
domiciled.  His  domestic  family  consisted  of  Mrs.  Washington, 
the  two  adopted  children,  Mr.  Lear  as  principal  secretary,  Colonel 
Humphreys,  with  Messrs.  Lewis  arid  Nelson,  secretaries,  and  Ma 
jor  William  Jackson,  aid-de-camp. 

"  Persons  visiting  the  house  in  Cherry  street  at  this  time  of  day, 
will  wonder  how  a  building  so  small  could  contain  the  many  and 
mighty  spirits  that  thronged  its  halls  in  olden  days.  Congress, 
cabinet,  all  public  functionaries  in  the  commencement  of  the  go 
vernment,  were  selected  from  the  very  elite  of  the  nation.  Pure 
patriotism,  commanding  talent,  eminent  services,  were  the  proud 
and  indispensable  requisites  for  official  station  in  the  first  days  of 
the  republic.  The  first  Congress  was  a  most  enlightened  and 
dignified  body.  In  the  Senate  were  several  of  the  members  of  the 
Congress  of  1776,  and  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
— Richard  Henry  Lee,  who  moved  the  Declaration,  John  Adams, 
who  seconded  it,  with  Sherman,  Morris,  Carroll,  &c. 

"  The  levees  of  the  first  President  were  attended  by  these  illus 
trious  patriots  and  statesmen,  and  by  many  others  of  the  patriots, 
statesmen,  and  soldiers,  who  could  say  of  the  Revolution,  «  magna 
parsfui;"  while  numbers  of  foreigners  and  strangers  of  distinc 
tion  crowded  to  the  seat  of  the  general  government,  all  anxious  to 
witness  the  grand  experiment  that  was  to  determine  how  much 
rational  liberty  mankind  is  capable  of  enjoying,  without  said  lib 
erty  degenerating  into  licentiousness. 

"Mrs.  Washington's  drawing-rooms,  on  Friday  nights,  were 
attended  by  the  grace  and  beauty  of  New  York.  On  one  of  these 
occasions,  an  incident  occurred  which  might  have  been  attended 
by  serious  consequences.  Owing  to  the  lowness  of  the  ceiling 
in  the  drawing-room,  the  ostrich  feather  in  the  head-dress  of  Miss 
Mclver,  a  belle  of  New  York,  took  fire  from  the  chandelier,  to  the 
no  small  alarm  of  the  company.  Major  Jackson,  aid-de-camp  to 
the  President,  with  great  presence  of  mind,  and  equal  gallantry, 


508  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

flew  to  the  rescue  of  the  lady,  and,  by  clapping  the  burning 
plumes  between  his  hands,  extinguished  the  flame,  and  the  draw 
ing-room  went  on  as  usual. 

"  Washington  preserved  the  habit,  as  well  in  public  as  in  pri 
vate  life,  of  rising  at  four  o'clock,  and  retiring  to  bed  at  nine.  On 
Saturdays  he  rested  somewhat  from  his  labours,  by  either  riding 
into  the  country,  attended  by  a  groom,  or  with  his  family  in  his 
coach  drawn  by  six  horses. 

"  Fond  of  horses,  the  stables  of  the  President  were  always  in  the 
finest  order,  and  his  equipage  excellent,  both  in  taste  and  quality. 
Indeed,  so  long  ago  as  the  days  of  the  vice-regal  court  of  Lord 
Botetourt,  at  Williamsburg,  in  Virginia,  we  find  that  there  existed 
a  rivalry  between  the  equipages  of  Colonel  Byrd,  a  magnate  of  the 
old  regime,  and  Colonel  Washington — the  grays  against  the  bays. 
Bishop,  the  celebrated  body-servant  of  Braddock,  was  the  master 
of  Washington's  stables.  And  there  were  what  was  termed  mus 
lin  horses  in  those  old  days.  At  cock-crow,  the  stable-boys  were 
at  work  ;  at  sunrise  Bishop  stalked  into  the  stables,  a  muslin  hand 
kerchief  in  his  hand,  which  he  applied  to  the  coats  of  the  animals, 
and,  if  the  slightest  stain  was  perceptible  upon  the  muslin,  up 
went  the  luckless  wights  of  the  stable-boys,  and  punishment  was 
administered  instanter ;  for  to  the  veteran  Bishop,  bred  amid  the 
iron  discipline  of  European  armies,  mercy  for  any  thing  like  a 
breach  of  duty  wTas  altogether  out  of  the  question. 

"  The  President's  stables  in  Philadelphia  were  under  the  direc 
tion  of  German  John,  and  the  grooming  of  the  wrhite  chargers  will 
rather  surprise  the  moderns.  The  night  before  the  horses  were 
expected  to  be  rode,  they  were  covered  entirely  over  with  a  paste, 
of  which  whiting  was  the  principal  component  part ;  then  the  ani 
mals  were  swathed  in  body-cloths,  and  left  to  sleep  upon  clean 
,«traw.  In  the  morning  the  composition  had  become  hard,  was 
well  rubbed  in,  and  curried  and  brushed,  which  process  gave  to 
the  coats  a  beautiful,  glossy,  and  satin-like  appearance.  The  hoofs 
were  then  blacked  and  polished,  the  mouths  washed,  teeth  picked 
and  cleaned  ;  and,  the  leopard-skin  housings  being  properly  ad 
justed,  the  white  chargers  were  led  out  for  service.  Such  was  the 
grooming  of  ancient  times. 

"  There  was  but  one  theatre  in  New  York  in  1789,  (in  John 
street,)  and  so  small  were  its  dimensions,  that  the  whole  fabric 
might  easily  be  placed  on  the  stage  of  one  of  our  modern  theatres. 
Yet,  humble  as  was  the  edifice,  it  possessed  an  excellent  company 
of  actors  and  actresses,  including  old  Morris,  who  was  the  associate 


THE    PRESIDENT'S    HOUSEHOLD.  509 

of  Garrick,  in  the  very  outset  of  that  great  actor's  career  at  Good 
mans-fields.  The  stage  boxes  were  appropriated  to  the  President 
and  Vice-president,  and  were  each  of  them  decorated  with  em 
blems,  trophies,  &c.  At  the  foot  of  the  play-bills  were  always  the 
words  <•  Vivat  Respublica.'*  Washington  often  visited  this  theatre, 
being  particularly  gratified  by  Wignell's  performance  of  Darby,  in 
the  Poor  Soldier. 

"It  was  in  the  theatre  in  John  street,  that  the  now  national  air  of 

<  Hail  Columbia,'  then  called  the  <  President's  March,' was  first 
played.     It  was  composed  by  a  German  musician,  named  Fyles, 
the  leader  of  the  orchestra,  in  compliment  to  the  President.     The 
national  air  will  last  as  long  as  the  nation  lasts,  while  the  merito 
rious  composer  has  been  long  since  forgotten. 

"  It  was  while  residing  in  Cherry  street  that  the  President  was 
attacked  by  a  severe  illness,  that  required  a  surgical  operation. 
He  was  attended  by  the  elder  and  younger  Doctors  Bard.  The 
elder  being  somewhat  doubtful  of  his  nerves,  gave  the  knife  to  his 
son,  bidding  him  'cut  away — deeper,  deeper  still;  don't  be  afraid; 
you  see  how  well  he  bears  it.'  Great  anxiety  was  felt  in  New  York, 
at  this  time,  as  the  President's  case  was  considered  extremely  dan 
gerous.  Happily,  the  operation  proved  successful,  and  the  pa 
tient's  recovery  removed  all  cause  of  alarm.  During  the  illness  a 
chain  was  stretched  across  the  street,  and  the  sidewalks  laid  with 
straw.  Soon  after  his  recovery,  the  President  set  out  on  his  in 
tended  tour  through  the  New  England  states. 

«  The  President's  mansion  was  so  limited  in  accommodation  thai 
three  of  the  secretaries  were  compelled  to  occupy  one  room — 
Humphreys,  Lewis,  and  Nelson.  Humphreys,  aid-de-camp  to  the 
commander-in-chief  at  Yorktown,  was  a  most  estimable  man,  and 
at  the  same  time  a  poet.  About  this  period  he  was  composing  his 

<  Widow  of  Malabar.'     Lewis  and  Nelson,  both  young  men,  were 
content,  after  the  labours  of  the  day,  to  enjoy  a  good  night's  repose. 
But  this  was  often  denied  them  ;  for  Humphreys,  when  in  the  vein, 
would  rise  from  his  bed  at  any  hour,  and,  with  stentorian  voice, 
recite  his  verses.     The  young  men,  roused  from   their  slumbers, 
and  rubbing  their  eyes,  beheld  a  great  burly  figure,    <  en  chemise,'' 
striding  across  the  floor,  reciting,  with  great  emphasis,  particular 
passages  from  his  poem,  and  calling  on  his  room-mates  for  their 
approbation.     Having  in  this  way,  for  a  considerable  time,  <  mur 
dered  the  sleep'  of  his  associates,  Humphreys,  at  length,  wearied 
by  his  exertions,  would  sink  upon  his  pillow  in  a  kind  of  dreamy 
languor.     So  sadly  were  the  young  secretaries  annoyed  by  the  fre- 

'2  r  2 


510  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

quent  outbursts  of  the  poet's  imagination,  that  it  was  remarked  of 
them  by  their  friends,  that,  from  1789  to  the  end  of  their  lives, 
neither  Robert  Lewis,  nor  Thomas  Nelson,  were  ever  known  to 
evince  the  slightest  taste  for  poetry."* 

The  first  care  of  the  president  was  directed  fo  the  attainment  of 
such  a  knowledge  of  the  state  of  the  governmental  affairs  under 
the  Articles  of  Confederation,  as  would  enable  him  to  administer 
properly  the  executive  department.  While  Congress  was  making 
the  necessary  arrangements  for  the  new  government,  the  old  insti 
tutions  continued,  and  to  the  temporary  heads  of  departments  the 
president  turned  to  obtain  this  information.  Their  reports  showed 
that  there  was  ample  room  for  the  exercise  of  all  the  firmness, 
integrity,  and  talents  of  even  Washington  himself.  "•  Another  man 
would  have  shrunk  back  in  despair  at  the  prospect  which  now 
presented  itself  to  Washington,  only  to  call  forth  his  energy  in  sur 
mounting  its  difficulties.^  There  were  very  many  objects  to  be 
contemplated,  the  documents  respecting  which  could  not  be  found 
in  the  official  records.  The  conflict  respecting  the  Constitu 
tion  had  been  so  sharp  and  exciting  as  to  engender  much  ani 
mosity,  and  though  its  friends  formed  a  majority  of  the  people, 
two  states  still  remained  out  of  the  Union,  and  the  discontent  and 
ill-feeling  existing  in  the  others  required  the  utmost  circumspec 
tion  on  the  part  of  the  administration.  In  the  west,  there  appeared 
a  disposition  to  separate  from  the  confederacy,  in  order  to  obtain 
certain  advantages,  which,  it  was  supposed,  would  be  granted  to  a 
separate  republic  in  the  west,  but  which  Congress  would  not  be 
able  to  obtain.  British  agents  suggested  that  if  the  people  there 
would  separate  themselves  from  their  Atlantic  brethren,  the  aid  of 
the  governor  of  Canada  would  be  afforded  them  in  seizing  and 
fortifying  the  Balize,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  against  the 
power  of  Spain,  whose  capricious  agents  frequently  denied  the 
right  of  navigating  that  river,  and  interdicted  commerce  with  New 
Orleans.  Spain  also  had  her  agents  employed  in  tampering  with  the 
people  of  the  west.  They  suggested  that  the  Mississippi  afforded 
the  only  highway  by  which  the  produce  of  the  west  could  reach  the 
markets  of  the  world,  that  the  future  wealth  and  prosperity  of  that 
section  of  country  depended  upon  its  free  navigation,  and  inti 
mated  that  that  which  would  be  readily  accorded  to  an  independent 
empire  established  in  the  interior,  could  never  be  granted  to  them 
while  they  remained  connected  with  the  Atlantic  states.  The  ani 
mosity  felt  against  England  by  the  inhabitants  generally,  precluded 

*  National  Intelligencer. 


FOREIGN    RELATIONS.  511 

all  fears  from  her  machinations,  but  those  of  Spain  were  more  for 
midable.* 

The  Indian  relations  of  the  country  also  demanded  considera 
tion.  The  savage  tribes  were  now  far  more  formidable  than  they 
had  been  to  the  early  colonists.  Instructed  first  by  the  French  in 
the  use  of  firearms  and  swords,  they  had  cast  aside  their  primitive 
weapons  before  the  Revolution  commenced,  and  during  its  continu 
ance  they  had  acquired  no  little  knowledge  of  discipline.  They 
had  always  been  possessed  of  natural  courage,  and  they  nearly  sup 
plied  by  superior  cunning  what  they  lost  by  their  inferiority  in  bodily 
strength  when  compared  with  the  descendants  of  the  Europeans. 
In  the  south,  the  Creek  Indians,  whose  fighting  men  amounted  to 
six  hundred,  were  at  war  with  Georgia.  Their  chief  was  a  half- 
breed  named  McGillivray,  whose  feelings  against  the  colonists  were 
embittered  by  the  confiscation  of  the  property  of  his  father,  a  white 
man  who  had  been  a  Tory.  The  state  of  Georgia  claimed  a  tract 
of  land  on  the  Oconge  River,  under  a  purchase  which  the  Indians 
denied  to  be  valid.  The  northern  Indians  were  supposed  to  be 
able  to  bring  five  thousand  fighting  men  into  the  field,  and  of  these 
nearly  one  third  were  at  open  war  with  the  United  States,  and  the 
residue  far  from  friendly.  The  regular  force  of  the  states  num 
bered  less  than  six  hundred  men.  In  addition  to  the  policy  of 
accommodating  differences  by  negotiation  which  the  government 
was  in  no  condition  to  terminate  by  the  sword,  a  real  respect  for 
the  rights  of  the  natives,  and  a  regard  for  the  claims  of  justice  and 
humanity,  disposed  the  President  to  remove  all  causes  of  quarrel 
by  treaties,  and  his  message  to  Congress  on  this  subject  evinced  his 
preference  of  pacific  measures. 

With  the  different  nations  of  Europe,  the  United  States  were  at 
peace,  but  there  existed  controversies  of  a  delicate  nature  with 
some  of  them,  which,  it  was  feared,  would  involve  the  infant  republic 
in  serious  difficulties.  Spain  not  only  denied  the  right  to  navigate  the 
Mississippi,  but  claimed  a  large  territory  as  her  property  under  the 
title  of  an  alleged  conquest  from  Great  Britain,  the  extent  of  which 
could  not  be  precisely  ascertained.  An  attempt  on  the  part  of  the 
old  government  to  settle  the  matter  by  treaty  had  failed,  and  all  the 
watchfulness  and  prudence  of  the  executive  was  necessary  to  resist 
the  violent  discontent  of  the  western  people,  which  furnished  Spain 
with  additional  motives  for  perpetuating  the  evil  of  which  they  com 
plained.  The  mutual  ill-feeling  between  the  people  of  the  United 
States  and  the  inhabitants  of  England  led  the  colonists  to  consider 

*  Marshall. 


512 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


AMERICAN     COMMISSIONERS     NEGOTIATING     THE     TREATY. 

the  commercial  regulations  of  the  British  government  as  the  offspring 
of  jealousy,  and  induced  them  to  look  to  the  sinister  influence  of 
Britain  for  the  cause  of  all  their  other  troubles,  and  produced 
similar  effects  in  England.  The  temper  displayed  on  both  sides, 
from  the  close  of  the  Revolution  until  the  formation  of  the  new 
government,  was  such  as  to  render  the  idea  of  a  renewal  of  the 
war,  at  no  distant  period,  far  from  improbable. 

Frederic  the  Great  of  Prussia  had  been  early  applied  to  by  the 
American  government,  which  solicited  him  to  join  in  a  treaty  of 
neutrality,  "as  the  monarcli  best  calculated  to  set  an  example  to  (he 
other  powers  of  Europe."  The  admiration  which  the  career  and 
character  of  Washington  had  inspired  in  the  bosom  of  the  king, 
extended  itself  to  the  whole  American  nation  :  he  acceded  to  their 
request  without  hesitation,  and  Franklin,  Jefferson,  and  Adams, 


FORMATION    OF    THE    CONSTITUTION.          513 

concluded  a  treaty  with  the  Prussian  ambassadors  at  the  Hague, 
in  1785,  the  terms  and  stipulations  of  which,  based  on  considera 
tions  of  the  purest  philanthropy,  form  a  most  honourable  memorial 
of  the  good  understanding  between  two  of  the  most  illustrious 
men  of  the  age. 

With  Portugal,  an  attempt  to  conclude  a  commercial  treaty  had 
failed,  and  the  Barbary  powers  manifested  a  hostile  disposition. 
The  emperor  of  Morocco,  indeed,  had  concluded  a  treaty,  and 
exhibited  no  intention  of  violating  it,  but  peace  was  yet  to  be  pur 
chased  from  Algiers,  Tunis,  and  Tripoli. 

During  its  first  session,  the  national  legislature  was  principally 
occupied  in  providing  revenues  for  the  long- exhausted  treasury,  in 
establishing  a  judiciary,  in  organizing  the  executive  departments 
in  detail,  and  in  framing  amendments  to  the  Constitution,  agree 
ably  to  the  suggestion  of  the  President.  The  members  immediately 
entered  upon  the  exercise  of  those  powers  so  long  refused  under 
the  Articles  of  Confederation.  They  imposed  a  tonnage  duty  as  well 
as  duties  on  various  imported  articles,  steadily  keeping  in  sight, 
however,  the  navigating  interest  of  the  country,  which  had  hitherto 
been  almost  wholly  at  the  mercy  of  other  nations.  Higher  tonnage 
duties  were  imposed  on  foreign  than  on  American  bottoms,  and 
goods  imported  in  vessels  belonging  to  citizens  of  the  United  States 
paid  ten  per  cent,  less  duty  than  the  same  goods  brought  in  those 
owned  by  foreigners.  These  discriminating  duties  were  intended 
to  counteract  the  commercial  regulations  of  foreign  nations,  and 
encourage  American  shipping.  To  aid  in  the  management  of  the 
affairs  of  government,  three  executive  departments  were  established, 
styled  Departments  of  War,  Foreign  Affairs,  and  of  the  Treasury, 
with  a  secretary  at  the  head  of  each. 

The  heads  of  these  departments,  in  addition  to  the  duties  spe 
cially  assigned  them,  were  intended  to  constitute  a  council,  to  be 
consulted  by  the  President  whenever  he  thought  proper  ;  and  the 
executive  was  authorized  by  the  Constitution  to  require  the  opinion, 
in  writing,  of  the  principal  officers  in  the  executive  departments, 
on  subjects  relating  to  the  duties  of  their  offices.  In  framing  the 
acts,  constituting  these  offices,  and  defining  their  duties,  it  became 
an  important  subject  of  inquiry  in  what  manner,  or  by  whom  these 
important  officers  could  be  removed  from  office.  This  was  a  ques 
tion  as  new  as  it  was  momentous,  and  was  applicable  to  all  officers 
of  executive  appointment.  In  the  long  and  learned  debates  on 
the  subject,. in  Congress,  there  arose  a  very  animated  opposition  to 
such  a  construction  of  the  Constitution  as  to  give  this  power  to  any 
65 


514  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

one  individual.  Whatever  confidence  might  be  placed  in  the  chief 
magistrate  then  at  the  head  of  the  government,  equal  confidence 
could  not  be  expected  in  his  successors,  and  it  was  contended 
that  a  concurrence  of  the  Senate  was  as  necessary  and  proper, 
in  the  removal  of  a  person  from  office,  as  in  his  appointment. 
Some  of  the  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  were  of 
opinion  that  they  could  not  be  removed  without  impeachment. 
The  principal  question,  however,  on  which  Congress  was  divided, 
was,  whether  they  were  removable  by  the  President  alone,  or  by 
the  President,  in  concurrence  with  the  Senate.  A  majority,  how 
ever,  in  both  houses,  decided  that  this  power  was  in  the  President 
alone.  In  the  House,  the  majority  in  favour  of  this  construction 
was  twelve.  This  decision  of  a  great  constitutional  question  has 
been  acquiesced  in,  and  in  its  consequences  has  been  of  greater 
importance  than  almost  any  other  since  the  establishment  of  the 
ne\v  government.  From  the  manner  in  which  this  power  has  been 
exercised,  it  has  given  a  tone  and  character  to  the  executive  branch 
of  the  government,  not  contemplated,  it  is  believed,  by  the  framers 
of  the  Constitution,  or  by  those  who  constituted  the  first  Congress 
under  it.  It  has  greatly  increased  the  influence  and  patronage 
of  the  President,  and  in  no  small  degree  made  him  the  centre, 
around  which  the  other  branches  of  the  government  revolve.* 

In  a  free  country,  where  the  private  citizen  has  both  the  right 
and  the  inclination  to  take  an  interest  in  the  public  concerns,  it  is 
natural  that  political  parties  and  civil  contentions  should  arise. 
These  will  be  more  or  less  violent,  angry,  and  hostile,  according  as 
a  sense  of  common  security  from  external  dangers  leaves  no  cause 
for  united  action,  and  little  anxiety  for  the  common  peace.  A  na 
tural  consequence  of  this  strife  of  parties  is  the  exercise  of  the  pas 
sions — pride,  interest,  vanity,  resentment,  gratitude — each  contri 
buting  its  share  in  irritating  and  prolonging  the  controversy.  In 
the  beginning  of  the  Revolution,  the  people  of  the  United  States 
divided  themselves  into  the  two  great  classes  of  Whigs  and  Tories  ; 
then  they  again  separated  upon  the  question  of  absolute  indepen 
dence.  Other  questions  arose  during  the  war  relative  to  its  con 
duct,  and  the  qualifications  of  the  leaders  of  the  army.  Indepen 
dence  achieved,  the  minds  of  the  people  were  agitated  about  the 
nature  of  the  government,  which  all  saw  to  be  necessary  for  their 
own  happiness,  and  for  the  better  enabling  them  to  prosecute  with 
foreign  countries  peaceful  negotiations,  or  the  operations  of  war. 
Many  saw,  in  too  close  a  union,  dangers  as  great  and  conse- 

*  Pitkin. 


POLITICAL    PARTIES.  515 

quences  as  distasteful  as  in  their  entire  separation.  It  was  believed 
by  many,  that  the  extent  of  the  country,  the  great  diversity  of  cha 
racter,  habits  and  pursuits,  among  the  several  states,  presented  in 
superable  obstacles  to  a  closer  union  than  that  afforded  by  the 
Articles  of  Confederation.  Some  were  almost  exclusively  commer 
cial,  others  agricultural  ;  some  were  disposed  to  engage  in  manu 
facturing  pursuits  ;  some  had  domestic  slavery  firmly  connected 
with  their  domestic  relations,  and  were  disposed  to  look  favour 
ably  on  the  extension  of  the  institution  ;  others  regarded  involun 
tary  servitude  as  a  curse,  and  desired  its  abolition.  It  was  not  to 
be  wondered  at,  that  with  such  points  of  diversity,  many  should 
suppose  that  a  single  government  could  not  administer  the  affairs 
of  all,  except  by  a  greater  delegation  of  power  than  would  be  sub 
mitted  to  by  the  American  people.  While  some  looked  wholly  to 
these  apprehended  consequences  of  a  close  union  and  a  single  go 
vernment,  others  chiefly  regarded  the  dangers  arising  from  dis 
union,  domestic  dissensions,  and  even  war.  One  party  dreaded 
consolidation  ;  the  other  anarchy  and  separation.  Each  saw,  in 
the  object  of  its  dread,  the  destruction  of  good  government,  though 
one  party  looked  too  exclusively  to  its  characteristic  of  order,  the 
other  to  that  of  civil  liberty.  These  were  the  thoughts  of  the  peo 
ple,  widely  differing,  but  all  equally  honest.  But  the  politicians 
addressed  themselves  to  these  prejudices,  often  with  unworthy  mo 
tives.  Local  prejudices,  self-interest,  fears,  in  some  cases  from  an 
anticipated  loss  of  consequence,  in  the  event  of  a  transfer  of  sove 
reignty  from  the  individual  states  to  the  general  government,  all 
combined  to  make  many  violent  in  their  expressions  of  opposition 
to  the  plan.  Apprehensions  of  violence  and  disorder,  and  fears 
from  individual  popularity  in  a  circumscribed  sphere,  led  others 
to  desire  consolidation.  With  these,  ranked  others  who  were  fond 
of  the  pomp  and  show  of  authority  which  would  attend  a  powerful 
government,  and  still  others,  who,  having  claims  upon  the  country, 
supposed  that  they  wrould  have  much  stronger  hopes  of  being  paid 
themselves,  arid  of  seeing  the  debts  due  abroad  liquidated,  if  a  sys 
tem  of  government  were  established  winch  could  be  certain  to  raise 
a  revenue  for  these  objects.  On  the  formation  of  the  Constitution, 
the  community  settled  down  into  two  great  parties,  Federalists  and 
Anti-federalists,  or  Democrats ;  the  first  believing  that  the  most 
imminent  danger  to  our  peace  and  prosperity  was  in  disunion  ; 
and  that  popular  jealousy,  always  active,  would  withhold  the  power 
which  was  essential  to  good  order  and  national  safety  ;  the  other 
party  believing  that  the  danger  most  to  be  apprehended  was  in 


516  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

too  close  a  union,  and  that  their  most  powerful  opponents  wished 
a  consolidated  and  even  a  monarchical  government. 

There  were  many  who  had  been  accustomed  to  reflect  upon  go 
vernment  and  political  relations  previously  to  the  wrar  of  indepen 
dence,  when  the  constitution  of  Great  Britain  Tbeing  by  far  the  best 
that  had  ever  existed,  they  may  naturally  be  supposed  to  have  con 
ceived  for  it  a  degree  of  homage  and  respect  .which  it  could 
not  now  inspire.  The  speculations  on  political  rights,  to  which 
the  contest  with  Great  Britain  arid  the  debates  on  the  question  of 
independence  gave  rise,  greatly  favoured  the  doctrines  of  political 
equality  and  the  hatred  of  power,  in  any  form  that  could  control 
the  public  will.  There  are,  in  the  heart  of  every  man,  principles 
which  readily  prepare  him  for  republican  doctrines,  and  after  a  few 
years,  some  of  the  speculative  politicians  began  to  think  that  the 
free,  simple,  and  equal  government  which  was  suited  to  the  tastes 
and  habits  of  our  people,  was  also  the  best  in  theory.  The  great 
body  of  the  people  were  partial  to  the  form  of  government  to  which 
they  had  been  accustomed,  and  wished  for  none  other,  though  the 
leading  statesmen  differed  upon  this  point.  Some  preferred  the 
republican  form  in  theory,  and  believed  that  no  other  would  be 
tolerated  in  practice  ;  and  others  regretted  that  they  were  obliged 
to  yield  so  far  to  popular  prejudice  as  to  forego  the  form  they 
deemed  best,  but  determined  to  avail  themselves  of  every  oppor 
tunity  of  improving  the  existing  government  into  that  form.  Nor 
were  they  without  hopes  that  by  siding  with  the  general  govern 
ment  in  every  question  of  power  between  that  and  the  separate 
states,  and  with  the  executive  in  all  questions  between  that  and 
the  legislature,  and  by  continually  increasing  the  patronage  of  the 
executive  by  means  of  an  army,  a  navy,  and  the  multiplication  of 
civil  offices,  they  would  ultimately  obtain  their  object.* 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  society,  so  agitated  and  disturbed,  that 
Washington,  without  ambition,  without  any  false  show,  from  a  sense 
of  duty  rather  than  inclination,  and  rather  trusting  in  truth  than 
confident  of  success,  undertook  actually  to  found  the  government 
decreed  by  the  new-born  Constitution.  He  rose  to  his  high  office 
invested  with  an  immense  influence,  which  was  acknowledged  and 
received  even  by  his  enemies. 

Washington's  natural  inclination,  says  Guizot,f  was  rather  to  a 
democratic  social  state  than  to  any  other.  Of  a  mind  just  rather 
than  expansive,  of  a  temper  wise  and  calm,  full  of  dignity,  but 

*  Tucker's  Life  of  Jefterson. 

-j-  Essay  on  the  Character  and  Influence  of  Washington. 


THE    JUST  ^MEDIUM.  517 

free  from  all  selfish  and  arrogant  pretensions  ;  coveting  rather 
respect  than  power,  the  impartiality  of  democratic  principles,  and 
the  simplicity  of  democratic  manners,  far  from  offending  or  annoy 
ing  him,  suited  his  tastes,  and  satisfied  his  judgment.  He  did  not 
trouble  himself  with  inquiring  whether  more  elaborate  combina 
tions,  a  division  into  ranks,  privileges,  and  artificial  barriers,  were 
necessary  to  the  preservation  of  society.  He  lived  tranquilly  in  the 
midst  of  an  equal  and  sovereign  people,  finding  its  authority  to  be 
lawful  and  submitting  to  it  without  effort. 

But  when  the  question  was  one  of  political  and  not  social  order, 
when  the  discussion  turned  upon  the  organization  of  the  govern 
ment,  he  was  strongly  federal,  opposed  to  local  and  popular  pre 
tensions,  and  the  declared  advocate  of  the  unity  and  force  of  the 
central  power. 

He  placed  himself  under  this  standard,  and  did  so  to  insure  its 
triumph.  But  still  his  elevation  was  not  the  victory  of  a  party,  and 
awakened  in  no  one  either  exultation  or  regret.  In  the  eyes,  not 
only  of  the  public,  but  of  his  enemies,  he  was  not  included  in  any 
party,  and  was  above  them  all;  "the  only  man  in  the  United 
States,"  said  Jefferson,  "who  possessed  the  confidence  of  all ; — 
.  .  .  there  was  no  other  one  who  was  considered  as  any  thing 
more  than  a  party  leader." 

It  was  his  constant  effort  to  maintain  this  honourable  privilege. 
"It  is  really  my  wish  to  have  my  mind,  and  my  actions,  which  are 
the  result  of  reflection,  as  free  and  independent  as  the  air.  .  .  . 
If  it  should  be  my  inevitable  fate  to  administer  the  government,  I 
will  go  to  the  chair  under  no  pre-engagement  of  any  kind  or  nature 
whatsoever.  .  .  .  Should  any  thing  tending  to  give  me  anxiety 
present  itself  in  this  or  any  other  publication,  I  shall  never  under 
take  the  painful  task  of  recrimination,  nor  do  I  knowr  that  I  should 

ever  enter  upon  my  justification All  else  is  but  food 

for  declamation Men's  minds  are  as  various  as  their 

faces ;  and,  where  the  motives  of  their  actions  are  pure,  the  opera 
tions  of  the  former  are  no  more  to  be  imputed  to  them  as  a  crime, 

than  the  appearance  of  the  latter Differences  in 

political  opinions  are  as  unavoidable,  as,  to  a  certain  point,  they 
may,  perhaps,  be  necessary."*  A  stranger  also  to  all  personal 
disputes,  to  the  passions  and  prejudices  of  his  friends,  as  well  as 
his  enemies,  the  purpose  of  his  whole  policy  was  to  maintain  this 
position,  and  to  this  policy  he  gave  the  true  name,  "the  just 
medium !" 

*  Washington's  Writings,  vols.  ix.  x. 


518  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

It  is  much,  continues  the  great  statesman  of  France,  to  have  the 
wish  to  preserve  a  just  medium  ;  but  the  wish,  though  accompa 
nied  with  firmness  and  ability,  is  not  always  enough  to  secure  it. 
Washington  succeeded  in  this  as  much  by  the  natural  turn  of  his 
mind  and  character,  as  by  making  it  his  peculiar  aim ;  he  was, 
indeed,  really  of  no  party,  and  his  country,  in  esteeming  him  so, 
did  no  more  than  pay  homage  to  truth. 

A  man  of  experience  and  a  man  of  action,  he  had  an  admirable 
wisdom  and  made  no  pretension  to  systematic  theories.  He  took 
no  side  beforehand  ;  he  made  no  show  of  the  principles  that  were 
to  govern  him.  Thus,  there  was  nothing  like  a  logical  harshness 
in  his  conduct,  no  committal  of  self-love,  no  struggle  of  rival  talent. 
When  he  obtained  the  victory,  his  success  was  not  to  his  adversa 
ries  either  a  stake  lost,  or  a  sweeping  sentence  of  condemnation. 
It  was  not  on  the  ground  of  the  superiority  of  his  own  mind  that 
he  triumphed,  but  on  the  ground  of  the  nature  of  things  and  of  the 
inevitable  necessity  that  accompanied  them.  Still  his  success  was 
not  an  event  without  a  moral  character,  the  simple  result  of  skill, 
strength,  or  fortune.  Uninfluenced  by  any  theory,  he  had  faith  in 
truth,  and  adopted  it  as  the  guide  of  his  conduct.  He  did  not  pur 
sue  the  victory  of  one  opinion  against  the  partisans  of  another ; 
neither  did  he  act  from  interest  in  the  event  alone,  or  merely  for 
success.  He  did  nothing  which  he  did  not  think  to  be  reasonable 
and  just ;  so  that  his  conduct,  which  had  no  systematic  character 
that  might  be  humbling  to  his  adversaries,  had  still  a  moral  cha 
racter,  which  commanded  respect. 

Men  had,  moreover,  the  most  thorough  conviction  of  his  disin 
terestedness  ;  that  great  light  to  which  men  so  willingly  trust  their 
fate  ;  that  vast  power,  which  draws  after  it  their  hearts  while  at 
the  same  time  it  gives  them  confidence  that  their  interests  will  not 
be  surrendered,  either  as  a  sacrifice  or  as  instruments  to  selfish 
ness  and  ambition.  A  striking  proof  of  his  impartiality  was  af 
forded  in  the  choice  of  the  persons  who  were  to  form  his  cabinet 
under  the  law  for  the  formation  of  the  executive  departments. 
Before  he  had  assumed  the  duties  of  the  office  to  which  he  had  been 
chosen,  he  had  received  letters  from  different  persons  making  appli 
cation  for  offices  which  would  be  in  his  gift  as  President.  Many 
of  these  were  persons  whom  he  was  disposed  to  favour ;  but  an 
extract  from  an  answer  to  one  of  them  will  show  what  rule  he  had 
adopted  for  his  government  in  this  respect :  "  Should  it  become 
absolutely  necessary  for  me  to  occupy  the  station  in  which  your 
letter  presupposes  me,  I  have  determined  to  go  into  it  perfectly  free 


THE    FIRST    SECRETARIES.  519 

from  all  engagements  of  any  kind  whatsoever.  A  conduct  in  con 
formity  to  this  resolution  would  enable  me,  in  balancing  the  various 
pretensions  of  different  candidates  for  appointments,  to  act  with  a 
sole  reference  to  justice  and  the  public  good.  This  is  in  substance 
the  answer  that  I  have  given  to  all  applications  (and  they  are  not 
few)  which  have  already  been  made.  Among  the  places  sought 
after  in  these  applications,  I  must  not  conceal  that  the  office  to 
which  you  particularly  allude  is  comprehended.  This  fact  I  tell 
you  merely  as  a  matter  of  information.  My  general  manner  of 
thinking,  as  to  the  propriety  of  holding  myself  totally  disengaged, 
will  apologize  for  my  not  enlarging  farther  on  the  subject.  Though 
I  am  sensible  that  the  public  suffrage,  which  places  a  man  in  office, 
should  prevent  him  from  being  swayed,  in  the  execution  of  it,  by 
his  private  inclinations,  yet  he  may  assuredly,  without  violating  his 
duty,  be  indulged  in  the  continuance  of  his  former  attachments." 
In  making  the  selection  of  the  persons  who  were  to  take  a  share  in 
his  administration,  Washington  exerted  all  the  means  he  possessed 
to  search  out  and  nominate  those  persons  who  would  discharge  the 
duties  of  their  respective  offices  to  the  best  interest  and  highest 
credit  of  the  American  union.  The  unmingled  patriotism  of  his 
motives  would  receive  its  clearest  demonstration  from  a  view  of  all 
his  private  letters  on  this  subject :  and  the  success  of  his  endea 
vours  is  completely  attested  by  the  abilities  and  reputation  which 
he  drew  into  the  public  service. 

At  the  head  of  the  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs,  since  denomi 
nated  the  Department  of  State,  he  placed  Thomas  Jefferson.  The 
Democratic  party — not  the  turbulent  and  coarse  democracy  of  an 
tiquity  or  the  middle  ages,  but  the  great  modern  democracy — 
never  had  a  more  faithful,  or  more  distinguished  representative 
than  Jefferson.  A  warm  friend  of  humanity,  liberty,  and  science  ; 
trusting  in  their  goodness  as  well  as  their  rights  ;  deeply  touched 
by  the  injustice  with  which  the  mass  of  mankind  have  been  treated, 
and  the  sufferings  they  endure,  and  incessantly  engaged  with  an 
admirable  disinterestedness,  in  remedying  them,  or  preventing  their 
recurrence  ;  accepting  as  a  dangerous  necessity,  almost  as  one 
evil  opposed  to  another,  and  exerting  himself  not  merely  to  restrain, 
but  to  lower  it ;  distrusting  all  display,  all  personal  splendour,  as 
a  tendency  to  usurpation  ;  of  a  temper,  open,  kind,  indulgent, 
though  ready  to  take  up  prejudices  against,  and  feel  irritated  with 
the  enemies  of  his  party  ;  of  a  mind  bold,  active,  ingenious,  inquir 
ing,  with  more  penetration  than  forecast,  but  with  too  much  good 
sense  to  push  things  to  the  extreme,  and  capable  of  employing, 


520  LIFE   OF  WASHINGTON. 

against  a  pressing  danger  or  evil,  a  prudence  and  firmness  which 
would  perhaps  have  prevented  it,  had  they  been  adopted  earlier 
or  more  generally.* 

Mr.  Jefferson,  in  1784,  had  been  appointed  to  succeed  Dr. 
Franklin  at  the  court  of  Versailles,  where  he  hatl  acquitted  himself 
to  the  satisfaction  of  his  countrymen,  and  to  the  delight  of  the  peo 
ple  among  whom  he  represented  them.  Having  lately  obtained 
permission  to  return  for  a  short  time  to  the  United  States,  he  was, 
while  on  his  passage,  nominated  to  this  important  office,  and  on 
his  arrival  in  Virginia,  found  a  letter  from  the  President,  giving 
him  the  option  of  becoming  secretary  of  Foreign  Affairs,  or  of  re 
taining  his  station  at  the  court  of  France.  In  reply  to  it,  Mr.  Jef 
ferson  said  that  his  inclinations  led  him  to  prefer  his  former  station 
in  France,  to  which  it  had  been  his  intention  to  return.  "But," 
he  added,  « it  is  not  for  an  individual  to  choose  his  post.  You  are 
to  marshal  us  as  may  be  best  for  the  public  good  ;  and  it  is  only 
in  case  of  its  being  indifferent  to  you  that  I  would  avail  myself  of 
the  option  you  have  so  kindly  offered  in  your  letter.  If  you  think 
it  better  to  transfer  me  to  another  post,  my  inclination  must  be  no 
obstacle  ;  nor  shall  it  be,  if  there  is  any  desire  to  suppress  the 
office  I  now  hold,  or  to  diminish  its  grade.  In  either  of  these 
cases  be  so  good  as  to  signify  to  me,  by  another  line,  your  ulti 
mate  wish,  and  I  shall  conform  to  it  accordingly.  If  it  should  be 
to  remain  at  New  York,  my  chief  comfort  will  be  to  work  under 
your  eye  ;  my  only  shelter,  the  authority  of  your  name  ;  and  the 
wisdom  of  measures  to  be  dictated  by  you  and  implicitly  executed 
by  me." 

Mr.  Madison  united  his  solicitations  to  those  of  the  President, 
and  Mr.  Jefferson  finally  assumed  the  duties  of  the  station. 

The  important  and  intricate  task  which  would  devolve  princi 
pally  upon  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  of  re-creating  the  public 
credit,  drawing  order  and  arrangement  from  the  chaotic  confusion 
in  which  the  finances  of  America  were  involved,  and  of  devising 
means  which  should  render  the  revenue  productive,  and  com 
mensurate  with  the  demand,  was  confided  to  Alexander  Ham 
ilton. 

Hamilton  deserves  to  be  ranked  among  those  men  who  have 
best  understood  the  vital  principles  and  essential  conditions  of  go 
vernment  ;  not  merely  of  a  nominal  government,  but  of  a  govern 
ment  worthy  of  its  mission  and  of  its  name.  In  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  there  is  not  an  element  of  order,  strength,  and 

*  Marshall,  Guizot. 


THE    FIRST    SECRETARIES.  521 

durability  to  the  introduction  and  adoption  of  which  he  did  not 
powerfully  contribute.  Perhaps  he  believed  the  monarchical  form 
preferable  to  the  republican.  Perhaps  he  sometimes  had  doubts  of 
the  success  of  the  experiment  attempted  in  his  country.  Perhaps, 
also,  carried  away  by  his  vivid  imagination  and  the  logical  vehe 
mence  of  his  mind,  he  was  sometimes  exclusive  in  his  views,  and 
went  too  far  in  his  inferences.  But,  of  a  character  as  lofty  as  his 
mind,  he  faithfully  served  the  republic,  and  laboured  to  found  and 
not  to  weaken  it.  His  superiority  consisted  in  knowing,  that,  na 
turally,  and  by  a  law  inherent  in  the  nature  of  things,  power  is 
above,  at  the  head  of  society  ;  that  government  should  be  consti 
tuted  according  to  this  law  ;  and  that  every  contrary  system  or 
effort  brings  sooner  or  later  trouble  and  weakness  into  the  society 
itself.  His  error  consisted  in  adhering  too  closely,  and  with  a 
somewhat  arrogant  obstinacy,  to  the  precedents  of  the  English  con 
stitution,  in  attributing,  sometimes,  in  these  precedents,  the  same 
authority  to  good  and  to  evil,  to  principles  and  to  the  abuse  of 
them,  and  in  not  attaching  due  importance  to,  and  reposing 
sufficient  confidence  in,  the  variety  of  political  forms  and  the 
flexibility  of  human  society.  There  are  occasions  in  which  poli 
tical  genius  consists,  in  not  fearing  what  is  new,  while  what  is  eter 
nal  is  respected. 

The  Department  of  War  wras  already  filled  by  General  Knox, 
whose  character  was  remarkable  for  integrity  and  ability,  but  who 
was  too  apt  to  submit  himself  to  the  influence  of  others,  especially 
to  those  of  lofty  minds,  like  Hamilton,  to  wrhose  political  school  he 
belonged.  The  office  of  Attorney-general  was  given  to  Edmund 
Randolph,  a  Democrat  in  politics,  distinguished  in  the  profession 
of  the  law,  at  one  time  governor  of  Virginia,  and  an  active  mem^ 
ber  of  the  convention  which  framed  the  Constitution.  He  was  a 
restless  spirit,  who  scarcely  justified  the  reliance  placed  in  his  pro 
bity  and  good  faith  by  the  President. 

During  the  first  session  of  Congress,  twelve  articles  were  agreed 
to  by  both  Houses,  and  submitted  to  the  states  as  amendments  to 
the  Constitution.  Of  these,  ten  wTere  ratified,  by  the  constitutional 
majority  of  the  states.  A  national  judiciary  was  also  established 
during  this  session,  consisting  of  a  Supreme  Court,  circuit  and  dis 
trict  courts. 

The  organization  of  the  judiciary  has  remained  nearly  the  same, 

with  a  short  interval,  during  which  another  plan  was  tried  and 

abandoned,  to  the  present  time.    Much  debate  was  had  during  this 

session,  on  the  subject  of  designating  a  place  for  the  permanent 

66  2x2 


522  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

seat  of  the  national  government,  but  the  session  closed  without  a 
decision.  The  salaries  of  the  President,  Vice-president,  the  secre 
taries,  and  the  judiciary  were  fixed,  but  not  without  difficulty.  A 
law  was  passed,  placing  the  states  of  Rhode  Island  and  North 
Carolina  on  the  same  footing  with  the  states  of  «l:he  Union  until  the 
15th  of  January,  1790,  in  order  to  allow  another  opportunity,  by 
ratifying  the  Constitution,  of  entering  the  new  confederacy. 

Congress  did  not  lose  sight  of  the  principal  object  in  view,  in 
forming  the  new  government,  the  support  of  public  credit.  Just 
before  they  rose,  a  resolution  passed  the  House  of  Representatives 
directing  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  prepare  a  plan  for  this 
purpose,  and  report  the  same  to  the  next  session.  The  President, 
by  a  resolution  of  both  houses,  was  requested  to  recommend  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States  a  day  of  public  thanksgiving  and  prayer, 
to  be  observed  by  acknowledging  with  grateful  hearts  the  many 
and  signal  favours  of  Almighty  God,  especially  by  affording  them 
an  opportunity  peaceably  to  establish  a  constitution  of  government 
for  their  safety  and  happiness.  Having  fixed  the  first  Monday  in 
January,  1790,  for  their  next  meeting,  Congress  adjourned  the 
29th  of  September. 

"A  government,"  says  Marshall,  "supported  in  all  its  depart 
ments  by  so  much  character  and  talents,  at  the  head  of  which  was 
placed  a  man  whose  capacity  was  undoubted,  whose  life  had  been 
one  great  and  continued  lesson  of  disinterested  patriotism,  and  for 
whom  almost  every  bosom  glowed  with  an  attachment  bordering  on 
enthusiasm,  could  not  fail  to  make  a  rapid  progress  in  conciliating 
the  affection  of  the  people.  That  all  hostility  to  the  Constitution 
should  subside ;  that  public  measures  should  receive  universal  ap 
probation;  that  no  particular  disgusts  and  individual  irritations 
should  be  excited,  were  expectations  which  could  not  reasonably  be 
indulged.  Exaggerated  accounts  were  indeed  circulated  of  the  pomp 
and  splendour  which  were  affected  by  certain  high  officers,  of  the 
monarchical  tendencies  of  -particular  institutions,  and  of  the  dispo 
sitions  which  prevailed  to  increase  the  powers  of  the  executive. 
That  the  doors  of  the  Senate  were  closed,  and  that  a  disposition  had 
been  manifested  by  that  body  to  distinguish  the  President  of  the 
United  States  by  a  title,  gave  considerable  umbrage,  and  were  repre 
sented  as  evincing  inclinations  in  that  branch  of  the  legislature  un 
friendly  to  republicanism.  But  the  apprehensions  of  danger  to 
liberty  from  the  new  system,  which  had  been  impressed  on  the 
minds  of  well-meaning  men,  were  visibly  wearing  off;  the  popu 
larity  of  the  administration  was  communicating  itself  to  the  govern- 


VISITS   AND    LEVEES.  523 

merit ;  and  the  materials  with  which  the  discontented  few  were  fur 
nished,  could  not  yet  be  efficaciously  employed. 

The  more  violent  opponents  of  the  new  government,  indeed,  were 
still  actively  employed  in  endeavouring  to  excite  the  feelings  *of 
the  people  against  it  by  all  manner  of  false  reports  and  distorted 
versions  of  facts.  Partly  with  reference  to  these  effusions  of 
malice,  the  President,  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Stuart  of  Virginia,  uses  the 
following  language  : — "  While  the  eyes  of  America,  perhaps  of  the 
world,  are  turned  to  this  government,  and  many  are  watching  the 
movements  of  all  those  who  are  concerned  in  its  administration,  I 
should  like  to  be  informed  through  so  good  a  medium  of  the  pub 
lic  opinion  of  both  men  and  measures,  and  of  none  more  than  my 
self;  not  so  much  of  w-hat  may  be  thought  commendable  parts,  if 
any,  of  my  conduct,  as  of  those  which  are  conceived  to  be  of  a  dif 
ferent  complexion.  The  man  who  means  to  commit  no  wrong, 
will  never  be  guilty  of  enormities,  consequently  he  can  never  be 
unwilling  to  learn  what  are  ascribed  to  him  as  foibles.  If  they  are 
really  such,  the  knowledge  of  them  in  a  well-disposed  mind  will 
go  halfway  towards  a  reform.  If  they  are  not  errors,  he  can 
explain  and  justify  the  motives  of  his  actions. 

"At  a  distance  from  the  theatre  of  action,  truth  is  not  always 
related  without  embellishment,  and  sometimes  is  entirely  perverted, 
from  a  misconception  of  the  causes  which  produce  the  effects  that 
are  the  subjects  of  censure.  This  leads  me  to  think  that  the  sys 
tem  which  I  found  it  indispensably  necessary  to  adopt  on  my  first 
coming  to  the  city,  might  have  undergone  severe  strictures,  and 
have  had  motives  very  foreign  from  those  that  govern  me  assigned 
as  causes  thereof.  I  mean,  first,  returning  no  visits ;  secondly, 
appointing  certain  days  to  receive  them  generally,  not  to  the  exclu 
sion,  however,  of  visits  on  any  other  days,  under  particular  circum 
stances  ;  and  thirdly,  at  first  entertaining  no  company  and  after 
wards,  until  I  was  able  to  entertain  any  at  all,  confining  it  to  offi 
cial  characters.  A  few  days  evinced  the  necessity  of  the  two  first 
in  so  clear  a  point  of  view,  that,  had  I  not  adopted  it,  I  should 
have  been  unable  to  attend  to  any  sort  of  business,  unless  I  had 
applied  the  hours  allotted  to  rest  and  refreshment  to  this  purpose ; 
for,  by  the  time  I  had  done  breakfast,  and  thence  till  dinner,  and 
afterwards  till  bed-time,  I  could  not  get  relieved  from  the  ceremony 
of  one  visit,  before  I  had  to  attend  to  another.  In  a  word,  I  had 
no  leisure  to  read  or  to  answer  the  despatches  that  were  pouring 
in  upon  me  from  all  quarters. 

"  With  respect  to  the  third  matter,  I  early  received  information 


524  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

through  very  respectable  channels,  that  the  adoption  thereof  was 
not  less  essential  than  that  of  the  other  two,  if  the  President  was 
to  preserve  the  dignity  and  respect  that  were  due  to  the  first  magis 
trate.  For  a  contrary  conduct  had  involved  the  late  presidents 
of  Congress  in  insuperable  difficulties,  and  th$  office,  in  this  re 
spect,  in  perfect  contempt ;  for  the  table  was  considered  as  a  pub 
lic  one,  and  every  person  who  could  get  introduced  conceived 
that  he  had  a  right  to  be  invited  to  it.  This,  although  the  table 
was  always  crowded,  (and  with  mixed  company,  and  the  President 
considered  in  no  better  light  than  as  a  maitre  d' hotel,)  was  in  its 
nature  impracticable,  and  as  many  offences  given  as  if  no  table 
had  been  kept. 

"  The  citizens  of  this  place  were  well  acquainted  with  this  fact, 
and  the  principal  members  of  Congress,  in  both  Houses,  were  so 
well  convinced  of  the  impropriety  and  degrading  situation  of  their 
President,  that  it  wras  the  general  opinion  that  the  President  of  the 
United  States  should  neither  give  nor  receive  invitations  ;  some 
from  a  belief,  independent  of  the  circumstances  I  have  mentioned, 
that  this  was  fundamentally  right,  in  order  to  acquire  respect.  But 
to  this  I  had  two  objections,  both  powerful  in  my  mind  ;  first,  the 
novelty  of  it  I  knew  would  be  considered  as  an  ostentatious  mimic 
ry  of  sovereignty ;  and  secondly,  that  so  great  a  seclusion  would 
have  stopped  the  avenues  to  useful  information  from  the  many, 
and  made  me  more  dependent  on  that  of  the  few.  But  to  hit  on 
a  discriminating  medium  wTas  found  more  difficult  than  it  appeared 
to  be  at  first  view  ;  for  if  the  citizens  at  large  were  begun  with,  no 
line  could  be  drawn  ;  all,  of  decent  appearance,  would  expect  to 
be  invited,  and  I  should  have  plunged  at  once  into  the  evil  I  was 
endeavouring  to  avoid.  Upon  the  whole,  it  was  thought  best  to 
confine  my  invitations  to  official  characters  and  to  strangers  of  dis 
tinction.  This  line  I  have  hitherto  pursued.  Whether  it  may  be 
found  best  to  adhere  to  it  or  to  depart  from  it,  must  in  some  mea 
sure  be  the  result  of  experience  and  information. 

«  So  strongly  had  the  citizens  of  this  place  imbibed  an  idea  of  the 
impropriety  of  my  accepting  invitations  to  dinner,  that  I  have  not 
received  one  from  any  family,  though  they  are  remarkable  for 
hospitality,  and  though  I  have  received  every  civility  and  attention 
possible  from  them,  since  I  came  to  the  city,  except  to  dine  with 
the  governor  on  the  day  of  my  arrival ;  so  that  if  this  should  by 
adduced  as  an  article  of  impeachment,  there  can  be  at  least  one 
good  reason  adduced  for  my  not  dining  out ;  to  wit,  never  having 
been  asked  to  do  so." 


THE    LEVEES.  525 

In  June,  1790,  he  wrote  again  to  Dr.  Stuart,  explaining  the  line 
of  conduct  he  had  adopted  for  the  accommodation  of  those  who 
were  disposed  to  call  upon  him.  It  combined,  he  said,  public  ad 
vantage  with  private  convenience,  and  in  his  judgment  was  unex 
ceptionable  in  itself.  Referring  to  a  person  who  represented, 
according  to  Dr.  Stuart,  that  there  was  more  pomp  used  at  the 
President's  levees  than  at  St.  James's,  and  that  the  President's 
bows  were  more  distant  and  stiff,  General  Washington  humor 
ously  writes,  "  That  I  have  not  been  able  to  make  bows  to  the  taste 

of  poor  Colonel  B ,  (who,  by  the  by,  I  believe,  never  saw  one 

of  them,)  is  to  be  regretted ;  especially,  too,  as,  upon  those  occa 
sions,  they  were  indiscriminately  bestowed,  and  the  best  I  was 
master  of.  Would  it  not  have  been  better  to  have  thrown  the  veil 
of  charity  over  them,  ascribing  their  stiffness  to  the  effects  of  age, 
or  to  the  unskilfulness  of  my  teacher,  rather  than  to  pride  and  dig 
nity  of  office,  which,  God  knows,  has  no  charms  for  me  ?  For  I 
can  truly  say,  I  had  rather  be  at  Mount  Vernon  with  a  friend  or 
two  about  me,  than  to  be  attended  at  the  seat  of  government  by  the 
officers  of  state  and  the  representatives  of  every  power  in  Europe. 

"  These  visits  are  optional.  They  are  made  without  invitation. 
Between  the  hours  of  three  and  four  every  Tuesday  I  am  prepared 
to  receive  them.  Gentlemen,  often  in  great  numbers,  come  and 
go,  chat  with  each  other,  and  act  as  they  please.  A  porter  shows 
them  into  the  room,  and  they  retire  from  it  when  they  please,  and 
without  ceremony.  At  their  first  entrance  they  salute  me,  and  I 
them,  and  as  many  as  I  can  talk  to,  I  do.  What  pomp  there  is  in 
all  this,  I  am  unable  to  discover.  Perhaps  it  consists  in  not  sit 
ting.  To  this,  two  reasons  are  opposed  :  first,  it  is  unusual ;  se 
condly,  which  is  a  more  substantial  one,  because  I  have  no  room 
large  enough  to  contain  a  third  of  the  chairs  \vhich  would  be  suffi 
cient  to  admit  it.  If  it  is  supposed  that  ostentation,  or  the  fashions  of 
courts,  (which,  by  the  by,  I  believe,  originate  oftener  in  convenience, 
not  to  say  necessity,  than  is  generally  imagined,)  gave  rise  to  this 
custom,  I  will  boldly  affirm,  that  no  supposition  wras  ever  more  erro 
neous  ;  for  if  I  were  to  give  indulgence  to  my  inclinations,  every 
moment  that  I  could  withdraw  from  the  fatigue  of  my  station 
should  be  spent  in  retirement.  That  it  is  not,  proceeds  from  the 
sense  I  entertain  of  the  propriety  of  giving  to  every  one  as  free 
access  as  consists  with  that  respect  which  is  due  to  the  chair  of 
government ;  and  that  respect,  I  conceive,  is  neither  to  be  acquired 
nor  preserved  but  by  observing  a  just  medium  between  too  much 
state  and  too  great  familiarity. 


526  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

«  Similar  to  the  above,  but  of  a  more  sociable  kind,  are  the 
visits,  every  Friday  afternoon,  to  Mrs.  Washington,  where  I 
always  am.  These  public  meetings,  and  a  dinner  once  a  week  to 
as  many  as  my  table  will  hold,  with  the  references  to  and  from  the 
different  departments  of  state,  and  other  comnfunications  with  all 
parts  of  the  Union,  are  as  much,  if  not  more  than  I  am  able  to  un 
dergo  ;  for  I  have  already  had,  within  less  than  a  year,  two  severe 
attacks,  the  last  wrorse  than  the  first.  A  third,  more  than  proba 
bly,  will  put  me  to  sleep  with  my  fathers.  At  what  distance  this 
may  be  I  know  not.  Within  the  last  twelve  months,  I  have  under 
gone  more  and  severer  sickness  than  thirty  preceding  years  afflicted 
me  with.  I  have  abundant  reason,  however,  to  be  thankful  that  I 
am  so  well  recovered." 

That  Washington  should  expatiate  at  such  length  on  this  topic, 
may  seem  strange  in  our  day,  when  the  nature  and  object  of  the 
ceremonial  arrangements  are  so  well  understood,  but  at  the  time 
he  wrote  they  were  the  subject  of  grave  party  questions. 

Anxious  to  visit  New  England,  to  observe  in  person  the  condi 
tion  of  the  country,  and  the  dispositions  of  the  people  towards  the 
government  and  its  measures,  the  President  was  disposed  to  avail 
himself  of  the  short  respite  from  official  cares  afforded  by  the^recess 
of  Congress,  to  make  a  tour  through  the  Eastern  States.  This  in 
tention  was  received  with  favour  by  his  friends,  who  anticipated 
the  best  effects  from  such  a  token  of  regard,  from  one  who  so  fully 
enjoyed  their  love  and  esteem.  He  left  New  York  on  the  15th  of 
October,  and  arrived  there  again  on  the  13th  of  November,  having 
passed  through  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts,  as  far  as  Ports 
mouth  in  New  Hampshire,  going  and  returning  by  different  routes.  It 
was  pleasing  to  him  to  contemplate  once  more  the  theatre  on  which 
many  interesting  military  scenes  had  been  exhibited,  and  to  review 
tfre  ground  on  which  his  first  campaign  as  commander-in-chief  of 
the  American  army  had  been  made.  The  progress  of  society,  the 
improvements  in  commerce,  agriculture  and  manufactures,  filled 
him  with  grateful  emotions,  which  the  temper,  circumstances,  and 
dispositions  of  the  people  were  calculated  to  heighten  still  more. 
His  re-appearance  in  the  high  station  he  now  filled,  brought  back 
to  recollection  the  perilous  transactions  of  the  war;  and  the  recep 
tion  universally  given  him  attested  the  unabated  love  which  was 
felt  for  his  person  and  character,  and  indicated  the  growing  popu 
larity,  in  that  part  of  the  Union  at  least,  of  the  government  he  ad 
ministered.  Constituted  authorities,  corporate  bodies,  religious  and 
learned  institutions,  particular  trades  and  occupations,  the  militia 


RETURN    OF   FRENCH    MINISTER.  527 

and  all  classes  of  people,  vied  with  each  other  by  affectionate  ad 
dresses,  by  illuminations,  by  military  parade,  by  triumphal  proces 
sions,  and  by  various  preparations,  decorated  by  genius  and  by 
taste,  in  testifying1  the  sentiment  which  glowed  in  their  bosoms, 
and  to  which  his  presence  gave  increased  activity. 

The  addresses  which  were  presented  evinced  a  strong  attachment 
to  the  government,  and  decided  approbation  of  its  measures.  They 
connected  his  past  services  with  his  present  situation,  and  mani 
fested  the  general  conviction  that,  in  returning  to  a  public  station, 
the  private  wishes  of  his  heart  had  yielded  to  a  sense  of  duty  to 
his  country.  The  sincerity  and  warmth  with  which  he  reciprocated 
the  affection  expressed  for  his  person  was  well  calculated  to  pre 
serve  the  sentiments  which  were  generally  diffused.  "I  rejoice 
with  you,  my  fellow-citizens,"  said  he,  in  answer  to  an  address 
from  the  inhabitants  of  Boston,  "in  every  circumstance  that  de 
clares  your  prosperity  ;  and  I  do  so  most  cordially,  because  you  have 
well  deserved  to  be  happy.  Your  love  of  liberty ;  your  respect 
for  the  laws  ;  your  habits  of  industry  ;  and  your  practice  of  the 
moral  and  religious  obligations,  are  the  strongest  claims  to  national 
and  individual  happiness.  And  they  will,  I  trust,  be  firmly  and 
lastingly  established." 

Just  before  his  departure  from  New  York,  President  Washington 
received  from  the  Count  de  Moustiers,  the  minister  of  France, 
official  notice  that  he  was  permitted  by  his  court  to  return  to  Eu 
rope.  By  the  orders  of  his  sovereign  he  added,  "  that  his  majesty 
was  pleased  at  the  alteration  which  had  taken  place  in  the  govern 
ment,  and  congratulated  America  on  the  choice  they  had  made  of 
a  President."  As  from  himself,  he  observed  that  the  government 
of  this  country  had  been  hitherto  of  so  fluctuating  a  nature  that  no 
dependence^  could  be  placed  on  its  proceedings  ;  in  consequence 
of  which  foreign  nations  had  been*cautious  of  entering  into  trea 
ties,  or  engagements  of  any  kind  with  the  United  States,  but  that  in 
the  present  government  there  was  a  head  to  look  up  to,  and  power 
being  placed  in  the  hands  of  its  officers,  stability  in  its  measures 
might  be  expected.  The  disposition  of  the  French  monarch  to 
cultivate  the  good  will  of  the  new  government  was  also  manifested 
in  the  choice  of  the  new  minister,  Colonel  Ternan,  who  was  named 
as  a  person  who  would  be  particularly  acceptable  to  America,  and 
whose  appointment  was  preceded  by  the  compliment  of  ascertain 
ing  the  sense  of  the  President  respecting  him.  Soon  after  his 
return  to  New  York,  the  President  was  informed  of  the  ill  success 


528  LIFE   OF    WASHINGTON. 

which  had  attended  his  first  attempt  to  negotiate  a  peace  with  the 
Creek  Indians. 

General  Lincoln,  Mr.  Griffin  and  Colonel  Humphries  had  been 
deputed  by  him  on  this  mission,  soon  after  his  inauguration.  These 
met  with  McGillivray,  and  other  chiefs  of  the*  nation,  with  about 
two  thousand  men  at  the  Rock  Landing,  on  the  frontiers  of  Georgia. 
The  negotiations  were  soon  broken  off  by  McGillivray,  whose  per 
sonal  interests  and  connection  with  Spain  were  supposed  to  have 
been  the  real  cause  of  their  abrupt  and  unsuccessful  termination. 
The  next  year  brought  round  an  accomplishment  of  the  President's 
wishes,  which  had  failed  in  the  first  attempt.  Policy  and  interest 
concurred  in  recommending  every  prudent  measure  for  detaching 
the  Creek  Indians  from  all  connection  with  the  Spaniards,  and 
cementing  their  friendship  with  the  United  States.  Negotiations 
carried  on  with  them  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Spanish  settlements,  pro 
mised  less  than  negotiations  conducted  at  the  seat  of  government. 
To  induce  a  disposition  favourable  to  this  change  of  place,  the 
President  sent  Colonel  Willet,  a  gallant  and  intelligent  officer  of  the 
late  army,  into  the  Creek  country,  apparently  on  private  business, 
but  with  a  letter  of  introduction  to  McGillivray,  and  with  instruc 
tions  to  take  occasional  opportunities  to  point  out  the  distresses 
which  a  war  with  the  United  States  would  bring  on  the  Creek 
nation,  and  the  indiscretion  of  their  breaking  off  the  negotiation 
at  the  Rock  Landing ;  and  to  exhort  him  to  repair  with  the  chiefs 
of  his  nation  to  New  York,  in  order  to  effect  a  solid  and  lasting 
peace.  Willet  performed  these  duties  with  so  much  address  that 
McGillivray,  with  the  chiefs  of  his  nation,  was  induced  to  come  to 
New  York,  where  fresh  negotiations  commenced,  which,  on  the  7th 
of  August,  1790,  terminated  in  the  establishment  of  peace. 

So  fully  had  the  benefit  of  the  new  system  begun  to  be  felt  and 
realized,  that  during  the  rece?s  of  Congress,  the  state  of  North 
Carolina  ratified  the  Constitution,  and  in  May,  1790,  the  President 
had  the  pleasure  of  witnessing  the  completion  of  the  Union  under 
the  new  government  by  the  adoption  by  Rhode  Island  of  the  Con 
stitution. 

At  the  opening  of  the  next  session,  the  President  congratulated 
Congress  on  the  favourable  prospect  of  public  affairs ;  and  among 
other  things  recommended  to  their  attention  the  important  subject 
of  providing  for  the  common  defence,  by  the  establishment  of  a 
good  militia  system,  and  the  promotion  of  such  manufactures  as 
would  render  America  independent  of  others  for  essentials,  particu 
larly  military  supplies.  He  also  recommended  the  adoption  of  all 


THE    PUBLIC    DEBT.  529 

proper  means  for  the  advancement  of  agriculture,  commerce,  and 
manufactures,  and  the  promotion  of  science  and  literature ;  and 
above  all,  that  provision  should  be  made  for  the  support  of  the 
public  credit. 

The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  respecting  public 
credit  was  submitted  to  the  House  on  the  15th  of  January.  The 
public  debt  of  the  United  States  was  estimated  by  the  secretary  at 
more  than  fifty-four  millions  of  dollars.  Of  this  sum  the  foreign 
debt,  principally  due  to  France  and  the  Hollanders,  constituted 
eleven  millions  and  three  quarters,  including  more  than  a  million 
and  a  half  of  interest ;  and  the  domestic  liquidated  debt,  including 
about  thirteen  millions  of  arrears  of  interest,  more  than  forty  mil 
lions  ;  and  the  unliquidated  debt,  two  millions.  The  secretary 
recommended  the  assumption  of  the  debts  of  the  several  states,  to 
be  paid  equally  with  those  of  the  Union,  as  a  measure  of  sound 
policy  and  substantial  justice.  These  were  estimated  at  twenty-, 
five  millions  of  dollars.  Doubts  were  expressed  by  the  secretary 
whether,  in  addition  to  all  other  expenses,  it  was  in  the  power  of 
the  United  States  to  make  a  secure  and  effectual  provision  for  the 
payment  of  the  interest  of  so  large  a  sum,  on  the  terms  of  the  origi 
nal  contracts.  He  therefore  submitted  to  the  House  several  plans 
for  the  modification,  security,  and  payment  of  the  domestic  debt. 

This  important  subject  was  under  the  consideration  of  Congress 
until  the  4th  of  August,  1790,  when  a  law  making  provision  for  the 
debt  of  the  United  States  was  passed.  By  this  act,  a  new  loan  of 
the  whole  domestic  debt  was  proposed  on  the  following  terms : — 
two-thirds  of  the  principal  to  draw  an  interest  of  six  per  cent,  after 
January  1st,  1791  ;  and  the  other  third  to  draw  the  same  interest, 
after  the  year  1800  ;  the  arrears  of  interest  to  draw  three  per  cent, 
after  January,  1791.  The  debt  drawing  six  per  cent,  to  be 
redeemable  by  payments  not  exceeding,  in  one  year,  eight  per  cent, 
on  account  both  of  principal  and  interest ;  and  the  three  per  cents, 
were  made  redeemable  at  the  pleasure  of  the  government.  By  the 
same  act,  Congress  assumed  twenty-one  millions  and  a  half  of  the 
state  debts ;  and  this  sum  was  apportioned  among  the  states,  hav 
ing  regard  to  the  amount  of  the  debts  of  each.  The  sum  thus 
assumed  was  also  to  be  loaned  to  the  United  States  by  individuals 
holding  certain  evidences  of  state  debts,  but  on  terms  somewhat 
different  from  those  of  the  domestic  debt.  Four-ninths  was  to 
bear  an  interest  of  six  per  cent,  commencing  on  the  1st  of  January, 
1792,  two-ninths  to  draw  the  same  interest  after  the  year  1800, 
67  a  Y 


530  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

and  the  other  three-ninths  an  interest  of  three  per  cent,  from  Janu 
ary,  1792. 

The  report  of  the  secretary  gave  rise  to  long  and  serious  de 
bates.  In  the  national  legislature  much  difference  existed  as  to 
the  mode  and  manner  of  providing  for  the  payment  of  so  large  a 
debt,  deemed  of  little  value  under  the  old  federal  government ;  and 
particularly  on  the  question  of  assuming  the  state  debts.  The 
public  creditors,  as  well  as  the  community  at  large,  had  waited 
with  no  small  degree  of  solicitude,  for  the  first  financial  report  from 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  this  solicitude  was  rather  in 
creased  than  diminished  by  the  proceedings  of  Congress  on  the 
subject.  It  was  generally  expected  that  some  provision  would  be 
made  for  the  payment  of  this  debt  under  the  new  government;  and 
the  propriety  of  making  a  discrimination  between  the  original 
holders  and  the  purchasers,  had  been  suggested  in  private  circles 
as  well  as  in  the  public  papers.* 

The  report  of  the  secretary  adverting  to  the  fact  that  many  of  the 
holders  of  the  evidences  of  the  debt  had  purchased  them  for  a  fourth 
or  fifth  of  their  nominal  value,  examined  the  question  whether  any 
discrimination  should  be  made  between  such  purchasers  of  the  debt 
and  the  original  creditors;  and  its  author  was  clearly  of  opinion, 
that  no  discrimination  could  be  made  without  a  breach  of  public 
faith,  and  even  lessening  the  value  of  the  debts  still  remaining  in  the 
hands  of  the  original  holders.  In  an  early  stage  of  the  proceedings 
on  the  report,  this  question  was  submitted  to  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives. 

N  the  llth  of  February,  Mr.  Madison  proposed 
that  where  the  public  securities  had  been  alien 
ated,  the  present  holders  should  receive  the  high 
est  market  price  of  such  securities,  and  the  resi 
due  should  be  paid  to  the  original  proprietors. 
After  a  spirited  debate,  which  called  forth 
nearly  all  the  talents  of  the  house,  Mr.  Madi 
son's  motion  was  lost  by  a  vote  of  thirty-six 
to  thirteen.  The  irredeemability  of  the  debt,  except  to  the 
amount  of  eight  per  cent.,  on  account  of  both  principal  and  interest, 
occasioned  also  much  opposition  and  debate.  The  most  serious 
debate,  however,  was  upon  the  assumption  of  the  state  debts,  a 
measure  which  created  divisions  both  in  and  out  of  Congress,  the 
effects  of  which  were  long  felt  in  the  administration  of  the  general 
government.  The  debts  of  the  states  were  very  unequal.  Those 

*  Pitkin. 


STATE    DEBTS.  531 

of  Massachusetts  and  South  Carolina  amounted  to  more  than  ten 
millions  and  a  half,  while  the  debts  of  all  the  other  states  were 
only  estimated  at  between  fourteen  and  fifteen  millions.  The  first 
proposition  on  this  subject  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  was  to 
assume  the  whole  of  these  debts.  In  committees  of  the  whole,  a 
small  majority  at  first  voted  in  favour  of  this  plan  ;  but  when  the 
members  from  North  Carolina  took  their  seats  in  Congress,  the 
subject  was  recommitted,  and  the  decision  reversed.  Propositions 
were  afterwards  made  to  assume  specific  sums  from  each,  but  were 
negatived.  These  various  propositions  occasioned  long  and  violent 
debates  among  the  members  from  different  states,  and  led  to  an 
inquiry  into  the  origin  of  the  state  debts,  and  to  a  comparative 
view  of  the  different  exertions  and  expenses  of  the  states  themselves 
in  the  struggle  for  independence.  The  assumption  of  specific  sums 
from  each,  was  finally  carried  in  the  Senate  by  a  majority  of  two, 
and  was  concurred  in  by  the  House  of  Representatives  by  a  majority 
of  six. 

In  the  course  of  the  debate,  Mr.  Sedgwick  declared  that  the 
insurrection  which  had  taken  place  in  Massachusetts  was  occa 
sioned  by  the  burden  of  taxes  necessarily  imposed  on  the  people 
of  that  state  to  pay  a  debt  incurred  merely  for  national  purposes. 
Fisher  Ames,  in  an  eloquent  speech  on  the  occasion,  held  the  fol 
lowing  language:  "Were  the  state  debts  contracted  for  the  war  ? 
It  appears,  by  the  books  in  the  public  offices,  that  they  were. 
Will  any  one  say,  that  the  whole  expense  of  defending  our  common 
liberty  ought  not  to  be  a  common  charge  ?  Part  of  this  charge 
was  contracted  by  Massachusetts  before  Congress  assumed  the  ex 
ercise  of  its  powers.  The  first  ammunition  that  repulsed  the  enemy 
at  Lexington  and  made  such  havoc  at  Bunker  Hill  was  purchased 
by  the  state,  and  appears  in  the  form  of  the  state  debt."  The  as 
sumption  was  negatived  at  first,  but  its  friends  persevered  in  their 
purpose,  and  it  was  finally  carried.  Previous  to  its  final  decision, 
a  bill  had  been  passed,  fixing  the  temporary  seat  of  government 
at  Philadelphia,  until  1800,  and  after  that  time  permanently  on 
the  river  Potomac.  This  subject  had  long  been  agitated  in  the  old 
Congress,  and  until  this  session  all  attempts  to  settle  it  had  failed. 
Many  have  supposed,  and  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  Jefferson  the 
supposition  is  confirmed,  that  this  decision  was  the  effect  of  a  com 
promise  on  the  question  of  assumption. 

During  this  session  of  Congress,  a  cession  of  western  lands  was 
made  by  North  Carolina  ;  the  territory  south  of  the  Ohio  river  was 
formed  into  a  territorial  government ;  an  enumeration  of  the  inha- 


532  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

bitants  was  directed  to  be  made  on  the  first  Monday  in  August, 
1790  ;  and  a  uniform  rule  of  naturalization  was  established.  A 
fund  for  sinking  the  national  debt  was  established.  Rhode  Island 
having  adopted  the  Constitution  in  May,  1790,  £he  union  of  all  the 
states  under  the  new  government  was  completed.  Congress  ad 
journed  on  the  12th  of  August,  to  meet  in  Philadelphia  on  the 
first  Monday  in  the  following  December. 

As  we  have  already  mentioned,  a  treaty  of  peace  wras  concluded 
in  August  of  this  year,  with  the  Creek  Indians,  which  restored 
tranquillity  to  the  people  of  Georgia.  The  pacific  overtures  made 
to  the  Indians  of  the  Wabash  and  the  Miamis  had  not  been  equally 
successful.  The  western  frontiers  were  still  exposed  to  their  in 
cursions  ;  and  there  was  much  reason  to  apprehend  that  the  people 
of  Kentucky  and  of  the  western  counties  of  the  Middle  States, 
could  only  be  relieved  from  the  horrors  of  savage  warfare  by  an 
exertion  of  the  military  strength  of  the  Union.  In  the  opinion  of 
the  President,  the  emergency  required  the  immediate  employment 
of  a  force  competent  to  the  object,  and  \vhich  should  carry  terror 
and  destruction  into  the  heart  of  the  hostile  settlements.  The  people 
of  the  west,  however,  declared  their  opinion  in  favour  of  desultory 
military  expeditions,  and  Congress  indulged  their  wishes.  The 
desire  of  the  executive  for  a  military  establishment  equal  to  the 
exigency,  was  not  regarded,  and  the  distresses  of  the  frontier  in 
habitants  therefore  still  continued. 

The  conduct  of  Spain  in  relation  to  the  disputed  boundary  and 
its  pretensions  to  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  was  such  as  to 
give  ground  to  fear  that  its  dispositions  towards  the  United  States 
were  unfriendly.  Between  the  United  States  and  England,  the 
non-execution  of  several  articles  of  the  treaty  of  peace  still  fur 
nished  matter  for  reciprocal  crimination,  which  there  was  the  more 
difficulty  in  removing  because  there  was  no  diplomatic  intercourse 
maintained  between  them.  Under  the  old  government,  Mr.  Adams's 
mission  had  been  treated  with  neglect,  and  the  new  administration 
was  not  disposed  to  subject  itself  to  a  similar  mark  of  disrespect. 
Mr.  Gouverneur  Morris  was  instructed,  as  an  informal  agent  to  the 
British  government,  to  sound  its  views  respecting  amicable  and 
permanent  arrangements  of  the  matters  in  dispute.  But,  Mr. 
Morris  remarked,  "that  there  never  was,  perhaps,  a  moment  in 
which  this  country  (Britain)  felt  herself  greater,  and,  consequently, 
it  is  the  most  unfavourable  moment  to  obtain  advantageous  terms 
from,  her  in  any  bargain."  He  conducted  his  mission  with  ability 
and  address,  but  was  unable  to  brin^  it  to  a  happy  conclusion. 


SICKNESS   OF   THE   PRESIDENT.  533 

The  communications  laid  before  the  American  government  at  the 
same  time,  by  Major  Beckwith,  an  English  gentleman  who  had 
come  in  an  informal  manner  to  learn  the  dispositions  of  the  Ameri 
can  government  towards  England  and  Spain,  between  which  a 
rupture  was  expected,  gave  the  executive  an  explanation  of  the 
delays  which  had  been  practised  with  Mr.  Morris.  He  was  per 
suaded  that  a  disposition  existed  in  the  cabinet  of  London  to  retain 
things  in  their  actual  situation  until  the  intentions  of  the  American 
government  should  be  ascertained  with  respect  to  the  war  supposed 
to  be  approaching.  If  America  would  make  a  common  cause  with 
Great  Britain  against  Spain,  the  way  would  be  smoothed  to  the 
attainment  of  all  their  objects  ;  but  if  America  should  incline 
towards  Spain,  no  adjustment  of  the  points  of  difference  between 
the  two  nations  would  be  made.  He  therefore  determined  to  hold 
himself  free  to  pursue,  without  reproach  in  the  expected  war,  such 
a  course  as  the  interest  and  honour  of  the  United  States  might 
dictate.  The  want  of  official  authenticity  in  the  communications  of 
Mr.  Beckwith  was  therefore  signified  to  that  gentleman  as  a  reason 
for  reserve  on  the  part  of  the  government,  and  the  powers  given  to 
Mr.  Morris  were  withdrawn.  It  was  determined  that  things  should 
remain  in  their  actual  situation  until  a  change  of  circumstances 
should  require  a  change  of  conduct.  Scarcely  had  this  resolution 
been  adopted,  when  the  dispute  between  Britain  and  Spain  was 
adjusted,  and  thus  both  the  fear  of  inconveniences  and  the  hope  of 
advantages  which  might  result  to  America  from  war  between  the 
two  powers  was  terminated. 

By  his  incessant  application  to  public  business  and  the  conse 
quent  change  of  active  for  sedentary  habits,  the  constitution  of  the 
President  seemed  much  impaired,  and  during  the  second  session 
of  Congress  he  had,  for  the  second  time  since  entering  upon  the 
duties  of  his  office,  been  attacked  by  a  severe  disease  which  reduced 
him  to  the  brink  of  the  grave.  Exercise,  and  a  temporary  relief 
from  the  cares  of  office  being  essential  to  the  restoration  of  his 
health,  he  determined  for  the  short  interval  afforded  by  the  recess 
of  the  legislature,  to  retire  from  the  fatigues  of  public  life  to  the 
tranquil  shades  of  Mount  Vernon.  Previously,  however,  he  made 
a  visit  to  Rhode  Island,  which  not  having  been  a  member  of  the 
Union  at  the  time  of  his  late  tour  through  New  England,  had  not 
been  visited  by  him  at  that  time. 

His  final  departure  from  New  York  was  not  less  affecting  than 
his  arrival  had  been,  when  he  came  to  assume  the  reins  of  govern 
ment.  It  was  always  his  habit,  says  Custis  in  his  «  Recollections,'7 

2  Y  2 


534  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

to  endeavour  to  avoid  the  manifestations  of  affection  and  gratitude 
that  met  him  everywhere.  He  strove  in  vain,  he  was  closely 
watched,  and  the  people  would  have  their  way.  He  wished  to 
slip  off  unobserved  from  New  York,  and  thus  steal  a  march  upon 
his  old  companions  in  arms.  But  there  were  to*o  many  of  the  dear 
glorious  old  veterans  of  the  Revolution  at  that  time  of  day  in  and 
near  New  York  to  render  such  an  escape  even  possible. 

«  The  baggage  had  all  been  packed  up  ;  the  horses,  carriages,  and 
servants  ordered  to  be  over  the  Ferry  to  Paulus  Hook  by  daybreak, 
and  nothing  was  wanting  for  departure  but  the  dawn.  The  lights 
were  yet  burning,  when  the  President  came  into  the  room  where 
his  family  were  assembled,  evidently  much  pleased  in  the  belief 
that  all  was  right,  when,  immediately  under  the  windows,  the  band 
of  the  artillery  struck  up  Washington's  March.  <  There,'  he  ex 
claimed,  <  it's  all  over  ;  we  are  found  out.  Well,  well,  they  must 
have  their  own  way.'  New  York  soon  after  appeared  as  if  taken 
by  storm  ;  troops  and  persons  of  all  descriptions  hurrying  down 
Broadway  toward  the  place  of  embarkation,  all  anxious  to  take  a 
last  look  on  him  whom  so  many  could  never  expect  to  see  again. 

«  The  embarkation  was  delayed  until  all  the  complimentary  ar- 
rangments  were  completed.  The  President,  after  taking  leave  of 
many  dear  and  cherished  friends,  and  many  an  old  companion  in 
arms,  stepped  into  the  barge  that  was  to  convey  him  from  New 
York  for  ever.  The  coxswain  gave  the  word  <  let  fall ;'  the  spray 
from  the  oars  sparkled  in  the  morning  sunbeams ;  the  bowman 
shoved  off  from  the  pier,  and,  as  the  barge  swung  round  to  the 
tide,  Washington  rose,  uncovered,  in  the  stern,  to  bid  adieu  to  the 
masses  assembled  on  the  shore ;  he  waved  his  hat,  and,  in  a  voice 
tremulous  from  emotion,  pronounced  Farewell.  It  may  be  supposed 
that  Major  Bauman,  who  commanded  the  artillery  on  this  interest 
ing  occasion,  who  was  first  captain  of  Lamb's  regiment,  and  a 
favourite  officer  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  would,  when  about 
to  pay  his  last  respects  to  his  beloved  commander,  load  his  pieces 
with  something  more  than  mere  blank  cartridges.  But  ah  !  the 
thunders  of  the  cannon  were  completely  hushed  when  the  mighty 
shout  of  the  people  arose  that  responded  to  the  farewell  of  Wash 
ington.  Pure  from  the  heart  it  came ;  right  up  to  Heaven  it  went, 
to  call  down  a  blessing  upon  the  Father  of  his  Country. 

"The  barge  had  scarcely  gained  the  middle  of  the  Hudson  when 
the  trumpets  were  heard  at  Paulus  Hook,  where  the  governor  and 
the  chivalry  of  Jersey  were  in  waiting  to  welcome  the  chief  to  those 
well-remembered  shores.  Escorts  of  cavalry  relieved  each  other 


RETURN  TO  MOUNT  VERNON.        535 

throughout  the  whole  route,  up  to  the  Pennsylvania  line ;  every 
village,  and  even  hamlet,  turned  out  its  population  to  greet  with 
cordial  welcome  the  man  upon  whom  all  eyes  were  fixed,  and  in 
whom  all  hearts  rejoiced. 

"What  must  have  been  the  recollections  that  crowded  on  the 
mind  of  Washington  during  this  triumphant  progress !  Newark, 
Brunswick,  Princeton,  Trenton  !  What  a  contrast  between  the 
glorious  burst  of  sunshine  that  now  illumined  and  made  glad  every 
thing  around  these  memorable  spots,  with  the  gloomy  and  desolate 
remembrances  of  '76  !  Then  his  country's  champion,  with  the 
wreck  of  a  shattered  host,  was  flying  before  a  victorious  and  well- 
appointed  foe,  while  all  around  him  was  shrouded  in  the  darkness 
of  despair ;  now,  in  his  glorious  progress  over  the  self-same  route, 
his  firm  footstep  presses  upon  the  soil  of  an  infant  empire,  reposing 
in  the  joys  of  peace,  independence,  and  happiness. 

"Among  the  many  who  swelled  his  triumph,  the  most  endeared 
to  the  heart  of  the  chief  were  the  old  associates  of  his  toils,  his  for 
tunes,  and  his  fame.  Many  of  the  revolutionary  veterans  were 
living  in  1790,  and,  by  their  presence,  gave  a  dignified  tone  and 
character  to  all  public  assemblages ;  and,  when  you  saw  a  pecu 
liarly  fine-looking  soldier  in  those  old  days,  and  would  ask,  <  to 
what  corps  of  the  American  army  did  you  belong?'  Drawing  him 
self  up  to  his  full  height,  with  a  martial  air,  and  back  of  the  hand 
thrown  up  to  his  forehead,  the  veteran  would  reply,  <  Life  Guard, 
your  honour.' 

"And  proud  and  happy  were  these  veterans  in  again  beholding 
their  own  good  Lady  Washington.  Greatly  was  she  beloved  in 
the  army.  Her  many  intercessions  with  the  chief  for  the  pardon 
of  offenders ;  her  kindness  to  the  sick  and  wounded  ;  all  of  which 
caused  her  annual  arrival  in  camp  to  be  hailed  as  an  event  that 
would  serve  to  dissipate  the  gloom  of  the  winter  quarters. 

"Arrived  at  the  line,  the  Jersey  escort  was  relieved  by  the  cavalry 
of  Pennsylvania,  and,  when  near  to  Philadelphia,  the  President  was 
met  by  Governor  Mifflin  and  a  brilliant  cortege  of  officers,  and 
escorted  by  a  squadron  of  horse  to  the  city.  Conspicuous  among 
the  governor's  suite,  as  well  for  his  martial  bearing  as  for  the  manly ' 
beauty  of  his  person,  was  General  Walter  Stewart,  a  son  of  Erin, 
and  a  gallant  and  distinguished  officer  of  the  Pennsylvania  line. 
To  Stewart,  as  to  Cadwallader,  Washington  was  most  warmly  at 
tached  ;  indeed,  those  officers  were  among  the  very  choicest  of  the 
contributions  of  Pennsylvania  to  the  army  and  cause  of  independ 
ence.  Mifflin,  small  in  stature,  was  active,  alert,  <  every  inch  a 


536  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

soldier.'  He  was  a  patriot  of  great  influence  in  Pennsylvania  in 
the  <  times  that  tried  men's  souls,'  and  nobly  did  he  exert  that 
influence  in  raising  troops,  with  which  to  reinforce  the  wreck  of  the 
grand  army  at  the  close  of  the  campaign  of '76. 

«  Arrived  within  the  city,  the  crowd  became  intense  ;  the  Presi 
dent  left  his  carriage  and  mounted  the  white  charger ;  and,  with 
the  governor  on  his  right,  proceeded  to  the  city  tavern  in  Third 
street,  where  quarters  were  prepared  for  him,  the  light  infantry, 
after  some  time,  having  opened  a  passage  for  the  carriages.  At 
the  city  tavern  the  President  was  received  by  the  authorities  of 
Philadelphia,  who  welcomed  the  chief  magistrate  to  their  city  as  to 
his  home  for  the  remainder  of  his  presidential  term.  A  group  of 
old  and  long-tried  friends  were  also  in  waiting.  Foremost  among 
these,  and  first  to  grasp  the  hand  of  Washington,  was  one  who  was 
always  nearest  to  his  heart,  a  patriot  and  public  benefactor,  Robert 
Morris. 

"After  remaining  a  short  time  in  Philadelphia,  the  President 
speeded  on  his  journey  to  that  home  where  he  ever  found  rest  from 
his  mighty  labours,  and  enjoyed  the  sweets  of  rural  and  domestic 
happiness  amid  his  farms  and  at  his  fireside  of  Mount  Vernon." 

The  meeting  of  Congress  soon  summoned  him  to  Philadelphia. 
He  met  the  legislature  with  a  speech  consistent  with  his  former 
views  and  policy,  breathing  the  purest  intentions  of  a  devoted 
patriot.  Though  he  was  unanimously  applauded  by  Congress,  a 
different  feeling  was  very  soon  excited,  and  the  friends  of  state 
rights  and  limited  government  startled  into  decided  opposition  by 
the  projects  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  One  of  his  proposi 
tions,  to  tax  domestic  distilled  spirits,  was  warmly  resisted,  and 
engendered  able  and  protracted  debates.  Its  opponents  contended 
that  imposts  collected  on  any  domestic  manufacture  wore  the  sem 
blance  of  a  foreign  power  intruding  itself  into  their  particular  con 
cerns,  and  excited  serious  apprehensions  for  state  importance  and 
for  liberty.*  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  North  Carolina,  and  Vir 
ginia,  protested  against  it  in  strong  and  energetic  terms.  Another 
and  more  important  scheme  proposed  by  the  head  of  the  Treasury 
excited  more  discussion,  while  it  awakened  warmer  feelings,  and 
commenced  a  metaphysical  debate  which  still  continues,  and  is 
hardly  likely  to  terminate  among  a  people  all  equally  free,  and 
equally  at  liberty  to  participate  in  the  administration  of  their  own 
government.  This  was  the  scheme  of  a  national  bank,  which 
arrayed  parties  in  fierce  opposition,  and  divided  the  cabinet  to  a 

*  Marshall. 


JEFFERSON    AND    HAMILTON.  537 

degree  that  menaced  its  total  rupture.  Jefferson  and  Randolph 
were  of  opinion  that  Congress,  in  passing  the  bill,  transcended 
the  powers  vested  in  them  by  the  Constitution.  General  Hamilton, 
on  the  other  hand,  maintained  it  to  be  purely  constitutional. 

It  was  not  an  easy  task  to  unite  two  men  of  such  opposite  na 
tures  as  Hamilton  and  Jefferson,  and  make  them  act  in  concert  in 
the  same  cabinet.  The  critical  state  of  affairs  at  the  first  adoption 
of  the  Constitution,  and  the  impartial  preponderance  of  Washington 
alone  could  accomplish  it.  He  applied  himself  to  it  with  consum 
mate  perseverance  and  wisdom.  At  heart,  he  felt  a  decided  pre 
ference  for  Hamilton  and  his  views.  "By  some,"  said  he,  "he 
is  considered  an  ambitious  man,  and,  therefore,  a  dangerous  one. 
That  he  is  ambitious  I  readily  gra»nt,  but  his  ambition  is  of  that 
laudable  kind  which  prompts  a  man  to  excel  in  whatever  he  takes 
in  hand.  He  is  enterprising,  quick  in  his  perceptions,  and  in  his 
judgment  intuitively  great." 

UT  it  was  only  in  1798,  in  the  freedom  of  retirement, 
that  Washington  spoke  so  explicitly.  While  in 
office,  and  between  his  two  secretaries,  he  maintained 
towards  them  a  strict  reserve,  and  testified  the  same 
confidence  in  both.  He  believed  both  of  them  to 
be  sincere  and  able  ;  both  of  them  necessary  to  the 
country  and  to  himself.  Jefferson  was  to  him,  not  only 
a  connecting  tie,  a  means  of  influence  with  the  popular  party  which 
rarely  became  the  opposition ;  but  he  made  use  of  him  in  the 
internal  administration  of  his  government  as  a  counterpoise  to  the 
tendencies,  and  especially  to  the  language,  sometimes  extravagant 
and  inconsiderate,  of  Hamilton  and  his  friends.  He  had  interviews 
and  consultations  with  each  of  them  separately,  upon  the  subjects 
which  they  were  to  discuss  together,  in  order  to  remove  or  lessen 
beforehand  their  differences  of  opinion.  He  knew  how  to  turn  the 
merit  and  popularity  of  each  with  his  own  party,  to  the  general 
good  of  the  government,  even  to  their  own  mutual  advantage.  He 
skilfully  availed  himself  of  every  opportunity  to  employ  them  in  a 
common  responsibility.  And  when  a  disagreement  too  wide,  and 
passions  too  impetuous,  seemed  to  threaten  an  immediate  rupture, 
he  interposed,  used  exhortation  and  entreaty,  and  by  his  personal 
influence,  by  a  frank  and  touching  appeal  to  the  patriotism  and 
right-mindedness  of  the  two  rivals,  he  postponed  the  breaking  forth 
of  the  evil  which  it  was  not  possible  to  eradicate.  On  the  bank 
question,  he  required  from  each  his  arguments  in  writing,  and  after 
maturely  weighing  them  both,  he  gave  the  sanction  of  his  signature 
68 


538  LIFE    OF   WASHINGTON. 

to  the  act  passed  by  Congress  for  its  incorporation.  From  the 
moment  of  the  incorporation  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  par 
ties  assumed  the  almost  perfect  forms  of  organization  and  princi 
ples  by  which  they  are  marked  in  our  own  day;  The  arguments 
and  imputations  of  the  republican  party,  however,  were  not  so 
much  intended  to  apply  to  Washington  and  his  measures  as  to 
Colonel  Hamilton,  who  was  considered  and  acknowledged  by  all 
as  the  head  of  the  federal  party.  This  fact  was  sufficiently  proved 
when  Washington,  at  the  close  of  the  session  of  Congress,  made 
an  excursion  into  the  Southern  States.  His  reception  by  men  of 
all  parties  was  ample  testimony  of  the  fact  that  he  united  all 
hearts,  and  that,  however  the  measures  or  the  constitution  of  go 
vernment  might  be  censured  and  disapproved,  none  would  refuse 
to  pour  the  grateful  homage  of  free  hearts  into  the  bosom  of  their 
veteran  chief. 

The  first  session  of  the  second  Congress  assembled  on  the  24th 
of  October,  1791,  at  Philadelphia.  The  most  important  bill  which 
came  under  their  notice,  was  one  for  the  apportionment  of  the 
representation  :  the  Federalists  taking  sides  in  favour  of  a  limited 
representation,  while  the  Republicans  contended  for  an  increase  of 
the  numbers  of  the  House,  sufficient  to  allow  what  they  termed  a 
full  representation  of  the  people.  On  the  8th  of  May,  Congress 
adjourned,  having  previously  passed  a  bill  augmenting  the  army 
to  five  thousand  men.  This  was  made  necessary  by  the  misfor 
tunes  connected  with  the  war  with  the  north-western  Indians. 
The  first  expedition  sent  against  them  had  been  put  under  com 
mand  of  General  Harmar,  who  was  defeated  with  considerable  loss 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Chilicothe.  General  St.  Clair  was  sent  on 
a  second  expedition,  but  was  also  defeated  with  great  loss.  Gene 
ral  Wayne  was  then  selected  to  conduct  another  campaign,  but  the 
season  was  so  far  advanced  before  he  was  enabled  to  commence 
operations,  that  he  did  little  more  than  march  to  the  intended 
theatre  of  operations.  Here  he  erected  a  fort  called  Fort  Recovery, 
and  employed  himself  during  the  winter  in  disciplining  his  troops, 
and  making  preparations  for  advancing  early  into  the  Indian  set 
tlements. 

On  the  8th  of  August,  1794,  he  reached  the  confluence  of  the 
An  Glaize  and  the  Miamis  of  the  Lakes,  without  opposition. 
This  was  thirty  miles  from  the  British  post  on  the  Miamis  of  the 
Lakes,  near  which  about  two  thousand  Indians  were  collected. 
General  Wayne's  legion  was  about  equal  in  number,  and  the 
militia  force  joined  with  it  amounted  to  eleven  hundred  men. 


INDIANS    DEFEATED    BY    WAYNE.  541 

From  the   14th  to  the  19th,  Wayne  moved  cautiously  down  the 
Miami,  and  on  the  20th  a  battle  took  place. 

The  Indians  had  advanced  into  a  thick  wood,  in  front  of  the  Bri 
tish  works,  and  had  taken  a  position  inaccessible  to  cavalry,  and 
of  very  difficult  access  to  infantry.  They  were  formed  in  three 
lines,  near  enough  to  support  each  other,  and  greatly  extended  in 
front.  On  the  discharge  of  the  first  rifles,  the  legion  was  instantly 
formed,  the  front  ordered  to  advance  with  trailed  arms,  and  with 
their  bayonets  to  drive  the  enemy  from  their  hiding  places,  then  deli 
ver  their  first  fire,  and  press  the  fugitives  so  briskly  as  not  to  allow 
them  time  to  load.  So  rapid  was  the  charge,  and  so  entirely  was 
the  enemy  broken  by  it,  that  in  the  course  of  one  hour  they  were 
driven  more  than  two  miles,  through  thick  woods,  and  within  gun 
shot  of  the  British  fort.  General  Wayne  remained  for  three  days 
in  front  of  the  field  of  battle,  laying  waste  the  houses  and  corn 
fields,  above  and  below,  and  within  pistol-shot  of  the  British  fort. 
In  the  conflagration,  the  houses  and  stores  of  Colonel  McKee,  an 
English  trader,  who  had  encouraged  the  savages  to  continue  the 
war,  were  reduced  to  ashes.  On  the  28th,  the  army  returned  to 
Au  Glaize  and  destroyed  all  the  villages  and  corn  within  fifty  miles 
of  the  river.  The  confidence  which  the  Indians  had  acquired  from 
their  former  victories  was  destroyed  by  this  total  defeat.  They 
found  themselves  not  only  vanquished,  but  driven  from  their  coun 
try,  with  the  prospect  of  famine  from  the  total  destruction  of  their 
cornfields.  Their  calamities  disposed  them  to  peace,  and  a  treaty 
was  concluded  in  August,  1795,  by  General  WTayne,  which  put 
an  end  to  the  Indian  wars,  at  that  period,  with  the  United  States. 


542 


LIFE   OF  WASHINGTON. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

of 


HE  administrative  talents  of  Washington 
were  once  more  to  be  exercised  for  the 
service  of  his  country.  With  great  reluc 
tance  he  had  consented  not  to  decline  a 
second  election,  and  on  the  5th  of  March, 
1793,  he  took  the  oath  of  office,  and  en 
tered  upon  the  second  term  of  his  admin 
istration.  He  had  again  .  received  the' 
unanimous  vote  of  the  electors.  Mr. 
Adams  was  re-elected  to  the  Vice-presi 
dency,  having  received  seventy-seven  votes  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty-two,  the  whole  number.-  Fortunate  was  it  for  America  that 
she  possessed  in  the  person  of  her  chief  magistrate,  at  this  time,  a 
man  of  so  much  wisdom,  firmness,  and  weight  of  character. 
Hitherto  the  discussions  and  divisions  which  had  occupied  the 


THE    FRENCH    REVOLUTION.  543 

attention  of  the  President  and  Congress  had  grown  out  of  the  do 
mestic  arrangements  and  circumstances,  and  were  more  fitted  to 
warn  and  teach,  than  to  bring  danger  upon  the  people.  But  on 
the  breaking  out  of  the  French  Revolution,  principles  and  views 
were  developed  which,  without  respect  to  time,  place,  or  national 
peculiarity,  were  held  up  as  perfectly  new  and  unexceptionable 
models,  whose  universal  applicability  was  stoutly  and  presumptu 
ously  asserted.  The  directors  of  that  revolution  required  a  uni 
versal  assent  to  their  favourite  doctrine  that  the  new  political 
wisdom  of  the  great  people  of  France  must  be  cordially  and  thank 
fully  received,  and  defended  with  united  powers  against  all  oppo 
nents  in  every  part  of  the  earth. 

Towards  France  and  her  revolution  Washington  deported  him 
self  on  the  great  truth  that  every  nation  possessed  a  right  to 
govern  itself  according  to  its  owrn  will,  to  change  its  institutions  at 
discretion,  and  to  transact  its  business  through  whatever  agents  it 
might  think  proper.  But  as  war  had  just  commenced  between 
France  and  Great  Britain,  his  correct,  sound  judgment,  instantly 
decided  that  a  perfect  neutrality  was  the  right,  the  duty,  and  the 
interest  of  the  United  States  ;  and  of  this  he  gave  public  notice  by 
a  proclamation,  in  April,  1793.  Subsequent  events  have  proved 
the  wisdom  of  this  measure,  though  it  was  then  reprobated  by 
many.  The  war  between  the  late  enemies  and  friends  of  the 
United  States  revived  revolutionary  feelings  in  the  breasts  of  the 
citizens,  and  enlisted  the  strongest  passions  of  human  nature 
against  one,  and  in  favour  of  the  other.  A  wish  for  the  success  of 
France  was  almost  universal ;  and  many  were  willing  to  hazard 
the  peace  of  their  country,  by  taking  an  active  part  in  the  war  in 
her  favour.  The  proclamation  was  at  variance  with  the  feelings 
and  the  passions  of  a  large  portion  of  the  citizens.  To  compel 
the  observance  of  neutrality,  under  these  circumstances,  was  no 
easy  matter.  Hitherto  Washington  had  the  people  with  him  ;  but 
in  this  case  a  large  proportion  was  on  the  other  side.  His  reso 
lution  was  nevertheless  unshaken  ;  and  at  the  risk  of  popularity 
he  persisted  in  promoting  the  real  good  of  his  fellow-citizens,  in 
opposition  to  their  own  mistaken  wishes  and  views. 

The  President  wras  soon  openly  and  violently  assaulted  in  the 
public  prints  for  the  proclamation  of  neutrality.  All  governments 
were  said  to  be  hostile  to  liberty,  and  many  insinuations  were  made 
against  the  administration,  under  the  general  class  of  those  who 
abetted  the  tyranny  of  kings,  or  refused  to  succour  a  free  people 
struggling  for  liberty  against  a  combination  of  tyrants.  These  dis- 


544  LIFE    OF   WASHINGTON. 

positions  were  greatly  increased  by  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Genet,  the  first 
minister  plenipotentiary  from  the  Republic  of  France  to  the  United 
States.  He  landed  April  8th,  1793,  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina, 
the  contiguity  of  which  to  the  West  Indies  fitted  it  to  be  a  conve 
nient  resort  for  privateers.  By  the  governor  of  the  state,  William 
Moultrie,  and  the  citizens,  he  was  received  with  ardour  ap 
proaching  to  enthusiasm.  During  his  stay,  which  was  for  several 
days,  he  received  unequivocal  proofs  of  the  warmest  attachment  to 
his  person,  his  country,  and  its  cause.  Encouraged  by  these  evi 
dences  of  the  good  washes  of  the  people  for  the  success  of  the 
French  Revolution,  he  undertook  to  authorize  the  fitting  and  arming 
of  vessels  in  that  port,  enlisting  men,  and  giving  commissions  to 
vessels  to  cruise  and  commit  hostilities  on  nations  with  which  the 
United  States  were  at  peace.  The  captures  made  by  these  cruisers 
were  to  be  tried,  condemned,  and  sold,  under  the  authority  of 
Genet,  who  had  not  yet  been  recognised  as  a  public  minister  by 
the  government. 

Similar  marks  of  enthusiastic  attachment  were  lavished  on 
Genet  as  he  passed  through  the  country  between  Charleston  and 
Philadelphia.  At  Gray's  Ferry,  over  the  Schuylkill,  he  was  met  by 
crowds  who  flocked  to  do  honour  to  the  first  ambassador  of  a 
republican  allied  nation.  On  the  day  after  his  arrival  in  Philadel 
phia,  he  received  addresses  from  societies  and  the  inhabitants, 
who  expressed  their  gratitude  for  the  aids  furnished  by  the  French 
nation  to  the  United  States  in  their  late  struggle  for  liberty  and 
independence,  and  unbounded  exultation  at  the  success  of  the 
French  arms.  Genet's  answers  to  these  addresses  were  \vell  cal 
culated  to  preserve  the  idea  of  a  complete  fraternity  between  the 
two  nations,  and  that  their  interests  were  the  same. 

After  Genet  had  been  thus  accredited  by  the  citizens  of  Phila 
delphia,  he  was  presented  to  the  President  and  received  with  ex 
pressions  of  a  sincere  and  cordial  regard  for  his  nation.  In  the 
conversation  which  took  place  on  the  occasion,  Mr.  Genet  gave 
the  most  explicit  assurances  that  France  did  not  wish  to  engage 
the  United  States  in  the  war  between  his  country  and  Great  Britain. 

WThile  Mr.  Genet  was  receiving  these  flattering  marks  of  attention 
from  the  people,  the  British  minister  preferred  a  long  catalogue 
of  complaints  against  his  proceedings  at  Charleston.  This  was 
founded  on  the  acts  already  mentioned,  which  were  calculated  to 
make  the  United  States  instruments  of  hostility  in  the  hands  of 
France,  against  those  with  whom  she  was  at  war.  These  were 
farther  aggravated  by  actual  hostilities  in  the  territories  of  the 


QUESTION    OF    NEUTRALITY.  545 

United  States.  The  ship  Grange,  a  British  vessel^  was  captured 
by  the  French  frigate  L'Ambuscade,  within  the  capes  of  the  Dela 
ware,  while  on  her  way  from  Philadelphia  to  the  ocean.  Of  this 
ship,  and  of  other  illegal  prizes,  which  were  in  the  power  of  the 
American  government,  the  British  minister  demanded  restitution. 

The  cabinet  council  of  Washington  was  unanimous  that  every 
independent  nation  was  exclusively  sovereign  in  its  own  territories, 
and  that  the  proceedings  complained  of  were  unwarranted  usurpa 
tions  of  sovereignty,  and  violations  of  neutrality;  and  therefore 
must  in  future  be  prevented.  It  was  also  agreed  that  the  efficacy 
of  the  laws  should  be  tried  against  those  citizens  of  the  United 
States  who  had  joined  in  the  offences  complained  of.  The  restitu 
tion  of  the  Grange  was  also  agreed  to  ;  but  on  the  propriety  of 
enforcing  the  restitution  of  prizes  made  on  the  high  seas,  there  was 
a  diversity  of  sentiment,  the  Secretaries  of  the  Treasury  and  of  War 
being  for  it,  and  the  Secretary  of  State  and  the  Attorney-general 
against  it.  The  principles  on  which  a  concurrence  of  sentiment 
had  taken  place  being  considered  as  settled,  the  Secretary  of  State 
was  desired  to  communicate  them  to  the  ministers  of  France  and 
of  Britain  ;  and  circular  letters  were  written  to  the  governors  of 
the  several  states  requiring  them  to  co-operate  with  force,  if  neces 
sary,  to  execute  the  rules  which  had  been  agreed  upon. 

Mr.  Genet  was  highly  dissatisfied  with  these  determinations, 
and  considered  them  as  subversive  of  the  treaty  between  the  United 
States  and  France.  His  representations  induced  a  re-consideration 
of  the  subject;  but  on  the  most  dispassionate  review  of  it,  no  rea-> 
son  appeared  for  an  alteration  of  any  part  of  the  system.  The 
minister  of  France  was  further  informed,  that  in  the  opinion  of  the 
President,  the  vessels  which  had  been  illegally  equipped  should 
not  depart  from  the  ports  of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Genet,  adhering  to  his  own  construction  of  the  treaty  be 
tween  France  and  the  United  States,  would  not  acquiesce  in  those 
decisions  of  the  government.  Intoxicated  with  the  flattering  atten 
tions  he  had  received,  and  ignorant  of  the  firmness  of  the  executive, 
he  seemsxto  have  expected  that  the  popularity  of  his  nation  and 
its  cause  would  enable  him  to  undermine  the  executive,  or  render 
it  subservient  to  his  views* 

About  this  time,  two  citizens  of  the  United  States,  who  had  been 
engaged  in  Charleston  by  Mr.  Genet  to  cruise  in  the  service  of 
France,  were  arrested  by  the  civil  authority,  in  pursuance  of  the 
determination  formed  by  government  to  prosecute  persons  who  had 
offended  against  the  laws.  Mr.  Genet  demanded  their  release  as 
69  2z  2 


546  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

f 

French  citizens,  in  the  most  extraordinary  terms.  This  was  re 
fused,  but  on  trial  they  were  acquitted  by  the  verdict  of  a  jury. 

The  minister  of  the  French  republic  was  encouraged  to  this  line 
of  opposition  by  a  belief  that  the  sentiments  of  the  people  were  in 
his  favour.  So  extravagant  was  their  enthusiastic  devotedness  to 
France ;  so  acrimonious  were  their  expressions  against  all  the 
powers  at  war  with  the  new  republic,  that  a  person  less  sanguine 
than  Mr.  Genet  might  have  cherished  the  hope  of  being  able  to 
succeed  so  far  with  the  people  as,  with  their  support,  ultimately  to 
triumph  over  the  opposition  he  experienced.  At  civic  festivals, 
the  ensigns  of  France  were  displayed  in  union  with  those  of  Ame 
rica  ;  at  these  the  cap  of  liberty  passed  from  head  to  head,  and 
toasts  were  given  expressive  of  the  fraternity  of  the  two  nations. 
The  proclamation  of  neutrality  was  treated  as  a  royal  edict,  which 
demonstrated  the  disposition  of  the  government  to  break  its  con 
nections  with  France,  and  dissolve  the  friendship  which  united  the 
people  of  the  two  republics.  The  scenes  of  the  revolutionary  war 
were  brought  into  view ;  the  effects  of  British  hostility  against  the 
United  States,  and  of  French  aids  both  in  men  and  money  in  their 
favour,  were  painted  in  glowing  colours.  The  enmity  of  Britain 
to  the  United  States  was  represented  as  continuing  undiminished  ; 
and  in  proof  of  it,  their  detention  of  the  western  posts,  and  their  excit 
ing  from  these  stations  the  neighbouring  Indians  to  make  war  on  the 
frontier  settlers,  were  urged  with  great  vehemence,  and  contrasted 
with  the  amicable  dispositions  professed  by  the  French  republic. 
It  was  indignantly  asked,  should  a  friend  and  an  enemy  be  treated 
with  equal  favour  ?  By  declamations  of  this  kind  daily  issuing 
from  the  press,  the  public  mind  was-  so  inflamed  against  the  execu 
tive,  that  Genet,  calculating  on  the  partialities  of  the  people,  openly 
insulted  the  government ;  and  adhering  to  his  own  construction  of 
the  treaty,  that  he  had  a  right  to  do  as  he  had  done,  threatened  to 
appeal  to  the  sovereign  people  against  their  President. 

To  preserve  neutrality  in  such  a  crisis  was  no  easy  matter. 
Washington,  adhering  to  the  principles  avowed  in  his  late  proclama 
tion  and  imbodied  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  « that  the 
United  States  would  hold  all  mankind  enemies  in  war  and  friends 
in  peace,"  exerted  all  his  authority  and  influence  to  keep  the 
balance  even  between  the  belligerents. 

It  was  at  length  resolved  by  Washington  to  instruct  Mr.  Morris, 
the  minister  of  the  United  States  at  Paris,  to  request  the  recall  of 
Mr.  Genet ;  and  that  Mr.  Morris  should  be  furnished  with  all  the 
necessary  documents  to  evince  the  propriety  of  the  request.  What 


MONROE    SENT  TO    FRANCE. 


547 


was  asked  was  granted  ; 
and  Mr.  Genet's  conduct 
was  disapproved  by  his 
government.  Mr.  Fau- 
chet  was  appointed  his 
successor,  who  was  suc 
ceeded  by  Mr.  Adet.  The 
successors  of  Genet  con 
tinued  to  tread  in  his 
footsteps,  but  with  less 
violence.  They  made 
frequent  complaints  of 
particular  cases  of  hard 
ship,  which  grew  out 
of  the  war  and  out  of  the 
rules  which  had  been 
adopted  by  the  executive 
with  regard  to  ships  of 
war,  cruisers  and  their  prizes.  They  complained  particularly  that 
in  the  treaty  with  Great  Britain  the  principle  of  »  free  ships  making 
free  goods"  was  given  up,  and  urged  the  injustice,  while  French 
cruisers  were  restrained  by  treaty  from  taking  English  goods  out 
of  American  bottoms,  that  English  cruisers  should  be  liberated 
from  the  same  restraint.  In  vain  did  the  executive  show  a  will 
ingness  to  relieve  France  from  the  pressure  of  a  situation  in  which 
she  had  voluntary  placed  herself.  Private  explanations  were  made, 
that  neither  the  late  treaty  made  with  Britain,  nor  the  arrangements 
growing  out  of  it,  furnished  any  real  cause  of  complaint  to 
France. 

The  French  republican  government  had  requested  the  recall  of 
Gouverneur  Morris,  and  General  Washington  had  appointed  Mr. 
Monroe  to  represent  the  American  interests  in  France,  in  May,  1794. 
He  was  received  with  distinguished  favour  by  the  government  and 
people  of  that  country,  but  his  political  principles  differed  from 
those  of  General  Washington,  whose  views  of  neutrality  were  but 
poorly  conformed  to  by  the  course  of  the  minister.  Mr.  Monroe 
was  therefore  recalled  by  the  President  in  1796.  He  published  a 
volume  explaining  and  vindicating  his  views  and  proceedings,  and 
censuring  the  policy  of  the  administration  towards  the  French  re 
public,  but  he  did  not  suffer  political  differences  to  estrange  his 
affections  from  Washington,  nor  to  prevent  his  acknowledging  the 
merits  and  perfect  integrity  of  that  great  man. 


548  LIFE    OF   WASHINGTON. 

With  the  same  conciliatory  view  which  occasioned  the  mission 
of  Monroe,  Washington  appointed  General  Pinckney  minister 
plenipotentiary  to  the  French  republic,  « to  maintain  that  good 
understanding,  which,  from  the  commencement  of  the  alliance, 
had  subsisted  between  the  two  nations,  and  to  enace  unfavourable 
impressions,  banish  suspicion,  and  restore  that  cordiality  which 
was  at  once  the  evidence  and  pledge  of  a  friendly  union."  The 
Directory  having  inspected  his  letter  of  credence,  announced  their 
haughty  determination,  "  not  to  receive  another  minister  from  the 
United  States  until,  after  a  redress  of  grievances  demanded  of  the 
American  government,  which  the  French  republic  had  a  right  to 
expect  from  it."  This  was  followed  by  a  written  mandate  to 
General  Pinckney,  to  quit  the  territories  of  the  republic.  To  com 
plete  the  system  of  hostility,  American  vessels,  wherever  found, 
were  captured  by  French  cruisers. 

With  Spain,  however,  the  President  succeeded  in  amicably  ad 
justing  all  controversies  the  same  year  that  brought  round  peace 
with  the  Indians.  Some  of  the  western  settlers  had  been  willing 
to  sacrifice  country,  allegiance,  and  every  thing  to  their  interest. 
Others  had  been  disposed  to  force  their  way  down  the  Mississippi, 
to  the  gulf  of  Mexico,  though  the  waters  should  be  crimsoned  with 
blood.  But  the  more  moderate  and  judicious  citizens,  adhering  to 
the  government,  and  knowing  their  present  inability  to  force  the 
free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  made  up  their  mind  to  wait 
events,  and  patiently  submit  to  a  present  inconvenience  in  hopes  of 
a  change  for  the  better.  These  hopes  were  realized  sooner  than  they 
expected.  The  war  between  republican  France  and  Spain  taught 
the  latter  the  importance  of  the  friendship  of  the  United  States. 
Among  other  daring  projects  of  the  new  republic  of  France,  was 
one  to  revolutionize  Spanish  America,  by  the  aid  of  the  western 
American  settlers,  co-operating  with  a  French  force,  to  be  intro 
duced  through  Georgia  or  Florida  and  commanded  by  Mr.  Genet. 
But  Washington,  though  zealous  for  the  free  use  of  the  Mississippi, 
would  not  permit  a  foreign  nation  to  attack  the  Spanish  settlements 
from  the  United  States  ;  and  a  scheme  which,  with  his  connivance 
alone,  would  probably  have  been  successful,  was  thus  defeated. 
How  far  this  magnanimous  policy  influenced  the  court  of  Madrid  to 
seek  the  friendship  of  the  United  States,  is  not  known,  but  we 
can  hardly  suppose  it  to  have  been  without  effect,  as  almost  at  the 
same  time  the  commissioners  of  Spain,  at  Philadelphia,  gave  hints 
of  the  practicability  of  expediting  the  negotiations  which  had,  with 
little  interruption,  been  protracted  without  any  prospect  of  termi- 


TREATIES   WITH   SPAIN    AND    ENGLAND.       549 

nation  for  nearly  fifteen  years.  These  hints  were  attended  to,  and 
Mr.  Thomas  Pinckney  was  appointed  envoy  extraordinary  to  his 
Catholic  majesty.  Shortly  after  his  arrival  in  Madrid,  he  con 
cluded  a  treaty  with  the  king  of  Spain,  in  which  the  claims  of  the 
United  States  on  the  important  points  of  boundary  and  the  naviga 
tion  of  the  Mississippi,  were  fully  conceded.  Thus  the  justice, 
moderation,  and  good  faith  of  the  government  finally  succeeded  in 
procuring  important  advantages  for  the  United  States  without  either 
war  or  dishonour.* 

Two  years  after  the  ineffectual  attempt  made  by  the  American 
government  through  its  informal  agent  Mr.  Morris,  to  bring  about 
a  better  understanding  with  the  court  of  St.  James,  the  British 
ministry,  finding  that  the  new  government  had  become  everywhere 
respected  for  stability  and  energy,  appointed  of  their  own  accord, 
as  minister  to  the  United  States,  Mr.  Hammond.  This  advance 
induced  the  President  soon  after  to  send  Mr.  Thomas  Pinckney  to 
the  court  of  Great  Britain,  in  a  similar  diplomatic  capacity. 

In  America,  the  tide  of  popular  opinion  ran  as  strongly  against 
Britain  as  in  favour  of  France.  The  former  was  accused  of  insti 
gating  the  Indians  to  acts  of  hostility  against  the  United  States  ;  of 
impressing  their  sailors,  of  illegally  capturing  their  ships,  and  of 
stirring  up  the  Algerines  against  them.  The  whole  of  this  hostility 
was  referred  to  a  jealousy  of  the  growing  importance  of  the  United 
States.  Motions  were  made  in  Congress  for  sequestering  debts  to 
the  British  subjects,  for  entering  into  commercial  hostility  with 
Great  Britain,  and  even  for  interdicting  all  intercourse  with  her,  till 
she  pursued  other  measures  with  respect  to  the  United  States. 
Every  appearance  portended  immediate  war  between  the  two  coun 
tries.  The  passionate  admirers  of  France  wished  for  it  ;  while 
others,  more  attached  to  British  systems,  dreaded  a  war  with  Great 
Britain,  as  being  likely  to  throw  the  United  States  into  the  arms  of 
France.  In  this  state  of  things,  when  war  seemed  inevitable,  the 
President  composed  the  troubled  scene  by  nominating  John  Jay,  in 
April,  1794,  envoy  extraordinary  to  the  court  of  London.  By  this 
measure  a  truce  was  obtained,  which  led  to  an  adjustment  of  the 
points  in  controversy  between  the  two  countries.  The  exercise  of 
the  constitutional  right  of  the  President  to  negotiate,  virtually  sus 
pended  all  hostile  legislative  measures ;  for  these  could  not  with 
delicacy  or  propriety  be  urged,  while  the  executive  wras  in  the  act 
of  treating  for  an  amicable  adjustment  of  differences. 

A  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  was  the 

*  Ramsay. 


550  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

result  of  this  mission.  This  was  pronounced  by  Mr.  Jay  "  to  be 
the  best  that  was  attainable,  and  which  he  believed  it  for  the  interest 
of  the  United  States  to  accept."  While  the  treaty  was  before  the 
Senate  for  consideration,  a  member,  contrary  to  the  rules  of  that 
body,  furnished  an  editor  of  a  newspaper  with  3  copy  of  it.  This 
being  published,  operated  like  a  spark  of  fire  applied  to  combusti 
ble  materials.  The  angry  passions  which  for  some  short  time  had 
been  smothered,  broke  out  afresh.  Some  went  so  far  as  to  pro 
nounce  the  treaty  a  surrender  of  their  power  to  their  late  enemy, 
Great  Britain,  and  a  dereliction  of  their  tried  friend  and  ally, 
France.  The  more  moderate  said,  that  too  much  was  given  and 
too  little  received.  Meetings  of  the  people  were  held  at  Boston, 
New  York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  Charleston,  and  several  other 
places,  in  which  the  treaty  was  pronounced  to  be  unworthy  of  ac 
ceptance,  and  petitions  were  agreed  upon  and  forwarded  to  the 
President,  urging  him  to  refuse  his  signature  to  the  obnoxious  in 
strument. 

These  agitations  furnished  matter  for  serious  reflection  to  the 
President,  but  they  did  not  affect  his  conduct,  though  they  induced 
a  reiterated  examination  of  the  subject.  In  a  private  letter  to  a 
friend,  after  reciting  the  importance  of  the  crisis,  he  added, — 
"  There  is  but  one  straight  course,  and  that  is  to  seek  truth  and  to 
pursue  it  steadily."  It  is  probable  that  he  had  early  made  up  his 
mind  to  ratify  the  treaty  as  better  than  none,  and  infinitely  better 
than  war;  but  regretted  that  it  was  so  generally  disliked,  and  consi 
dered  by  many  as  made  with%  design  to  oppress  the  French  republic. 
Under  the  weight  of  his  high  responsibility,  he  consoled  himself, 
"  that  in  time  when  passion  shall  have  yielded  to  reason,  the  cur 
rent  may  possibly  turn."  Peace  with  all  the  world  was  his  policy, 
where  it  could  be  preserved  with  honour.  War  he  considered  as 
an  evil  of  such  magnitude  as  never  to  be  entered  upon  without  the 
most  imperious  necessity.  The  mission  of  Mr.  Jay  was  his  last 
effort  for  the  preservation  of  peace  with  Great  Britain.  The  rejec 
tion  of  the  treaty  which  resulted  from  this  mission,  he  considered 
as  the  harbinger  of  war  ;  for  negotiation  having  failed  to  redress 
grievances,  no  alternative  but  war  was  left.  By  this  prudent  con 
duct  the  rising  states  were  preserved  in  peace.  But  the  bicker 
ings  of  the  citizens  among  themselves,  and  their  animosities  against 
Great  Britain,  still  continued.  The  popularity  of  the  President  for 
the  present  was  diminished  ;  but  this  he  had  anticipated.  In  a 
letter  to  General  Knox,  he  observes  : 

«  Next  to  a  conscientious   discharge    of  my  public  duties,  to 


OPPOSITION    TO    JAY'S    TREATY.  551 

carry  along  with  me  the  approbation  of  my  constituents  would  be 
the  highest  gratification  of  which  my  mind  is  susceptible.  But  the 
latter  being  secondary,  I  cannot  make  the  former  yield  to  it,  un 
less  some  criterion  more  infallible  than  partial  (if  they  are  not 
party)  meetings,  can  be  discovered  as  the  touchstone  of  public  sen 
timent.  If  any  person  on  earth  could,  or  the  Great  Power  above 
would  erect  the  standard  of  infallibility  in  political  opinions,  no 
being  that  inhabits  this  terrestrial  globe  would  resort  to  it  with 
more  eagerness  than  myself,  so  long  as  I  remain  a  servant  of  the 
public.  But  as  I  have  hitherto  found  no  better  guide  than  upright 
intentions,  and  close  investigation,  I  shall  adhere  to  them  while  I 
keep  the  watch." 

After  the  treaty  was  duly  ratified,  an  attempt  was  made  to  ren 
der  it  a  dead  letter  by  refusing  the  appropriations  of  money  neces 
sary  to  carry  it  into  effect.  Preparatory  to  this,  a  motion  was 
made  for  the  adoption  of  a  resolution  to  request  the  President  to 
lay  before  the  House  of  Representatives  a  copy  of  his  instructions 
to  Mr.  Jay,  together  with  the  correspondence  and  other  documents 
relative  to  the  treaty  with  Great  Britain.  This  involved  a  new 
question,  where  the  treaty-making  power  was  constitutionally 
lodged  ?  The  debate  wras  animated  and  vehement.  Appeals 
were  made  both  to  reason  and  passion.  After  a  discussion  of 
more  than  twenty  days,  the  motion  was  carried  in  the  affirmative 
by  a  majority  of  twenty-five  votes.  When  the  resolution  was  pre 
sented  to  the  President,  he  replied  "  that  he  would  take  time  to 
consider  it."  His  situation  was  peculiarly  delicate:  the  passions 
of  the  people  were  strongly  excited  against  the  treaty  ;  the  popu 
larity  of  the  demand  being  solely  for  information  ;  the  large  major 
ity  by  which  the  vote  was  carried  ;  the  suspicions  that  would  pro 
bably  attach  in  case  of  refusal — that  circumstances  had  occurred 
in  the  course  of  the  negotiation,  which  the  President  was  afraid 
to  publish,  added  to  other  weighty  considerations,  would  have 
induced  minds  of  an  ordinary  texture  to  yield  to  the  request. 
With  Washington,  popularity  was  only  a  second  object.  To  fol 
low  the  path  of  duty  and  the  public  good  was  a  primary  one.  He 
had  sworn  to  «  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  the  Constitution." 
In  his  opinion,  the  treaty-making  power  was  exclusively  given 
by  the  people  in  convention  to  the  executive,  and  the  public 
good  required  that  it  should  be  so  exercised.  He  therefore  sent 
an  answer  to  the  House,  in  which  he  stated  coolly,  and  forcibly, 
the  reasons  why  the  House  of  Representatives,  which  has  no  part 
in  the  treaty-making  power,  cannot  be  constitutionally  entitled  to 


552  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

the  papers  called  for  ;  and  concluded  with  saying :  «  A  first  re 
gard  to  the  Constitution  and  to  the  duty  of  my  office,  under  all 
the  circumstances  of  this  case,  forbids  a  compliance  with  your 
request. " 

Though  the  call  for  papers  was  unsuccessful,  the  favourers  of  the 
resolution  for  that  purpose  opposed  the  appropriations  necessary  to 
carry  the  treaty  into  effect ;  but  from  the  firmness  of  the  President, 
the  ground  was  altered.  The  treaty  was  ratified,  and  proclaimed 
to  the  public  as  constitutionally  obligatory  on  the  citizens.  To 
refuse  appropriations  for  carrying  it  into  effect  would  not  only  incur 
the  high  responsibility  of  breaking  the  public  faith,  but  make  a 
schism  in  the  government  between  the  executive  and  legislative 
departments.  After  long  and  vehement  debates,  in  which  argu 
ment  and  passion  were  both  resorted  to,  with  the  view  of  exposing 
the  merits  and  demerits  of  the  treaty,  the  resolution  for  bringing  in 
the  laws  necessary  to  carry  it  into  effect  was  carried  by  a  majority 
of  three.  Though,  in  this  discussion,  Washington  had  no  direct 
agency,  yet  the  final  result  in  favour  of  the  treaty  was  the  conse 
quence  of  the  measures  he  had  previously  adopted.  For  having 
ratified  the  treaty  and  published  it  to  the  world  as  the  law  of  the 
land,  and  having  in  his  answer  to  the  request  of  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives,  proved  that  he  had  a  constitutional  right  so  to  do,  the 
laws  necessary  for  giving  effect  to  the  treaty  could  not  be  withheld 
without  hazarding  the  most  serious  consequences. 

The  treaty  which  was  thus  carried  into  operation,  produced 
more  good  and  less  evil  than  was  apprehended.  It  compromised 
ancient  differences,  produced  amicable  dispositions,  and  a  friendly 
intercourse.  It  brought  round  a  peaceable  surrender  of  the  British 
posts,  and  compensation  for  American  vessels  illegally  captured. 
Though  it  gave  up  some  favourite  principles,  and  some  of  its  arti 
cles  relative  to  commerce  were  deemed  unequal,  yet  from  Britain, 
as  a  great  naval  power,  holding  valuable  colonies  and  foreign  pos 
sessions,  nothing  better,  either  with  or  without  the  treaty,  could 
have  been  obtained. 

After  the  lapse  of  ten  years  has  cooled  the  minds  both  of  the 
friends  and  the  enemies  of  the  treaty,  most  men  will  acknowledge 
that  the  measures  adopted  by  Washington  with  respect  to  it,  were 
founded  in  wisdom ;  proceeded  from  the  purest  patriotism  ;  were 
carried  through  with  uncommon  firmness :  and  finally  eventuated 
in  advancing  the  interests  of  his  country. 

Gradually  the  first  cabinet  of  Washington  had  become  entirely 
changed.  Mr.  Jefferson  retired  first  at  the  end  of  the  year  1793. 


THE    WHISKY    INSURRECTION. 


553 


Mr.  Randolph  was  ap 
pointed  to  succeed  him, 
and  the  office  of  attorney- 
general  vacated  by  Mr. 
Randolph  was  filled  by 
Mr.  Bradford,  of  Pennsyl 
vania.  Thirteen  months 
afterwards,  Mr.  Hamilton 
resigned  his  post  at  the 
head  of  the  Treasury, 
owing  to  the  inadequate 
amount  of  his  salary.  The 
same  cause  induced  the 
resignation  of  the  Secreta 
ry  of  War,  General  Knox. 
Oliver  Wolcott,  of  Con 
necticut,  succeeded  Ham 
ilton,  and  Timothy  Pickering  succeeded  General  Knox.  In  August, 
1795,  Mr.  Randolph  retired  from  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State. 
Mr.  McHenry  was  then  called  to  the  head  of  the  War  Department, 
while  Mr.  Pickering  was  transferred  to  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State. 
Colonel  Pickering's  highest  eulogy  has  been  spoken  by  the  eloquent 
lips  of  John  Randolph.  That  gentleman,  on  the  floor  of  Congress, 
spoke  of  him  as  one  »  whom,  whatever  may  be  said  of  him,  all  will 
allow  to  be  an  honest  man.  The  other  day,  when  on  the  compensa 
tion  question,  he  was  speaking  of  his  own  situation  ;  when  his  voice 
faltered,  and  his  eyes  filled  at  the  mention  of  his  poverty,  I  thought 
I  would  have  given  the  riches  of  Dives  himself  for  his  feelings  at  the 
moment ;  for  his  poverty  was  not  the  consequence  of  idleness,  or  ex 
travagance,  or  luxury,  nor  of  the  gambling  spirit  of  speculation :  it 
was  an  honourable  poverty,  after  a  life  spent  in  laborious  service, 
and  in  the  highest  offices  of  trust  under  government,  during  the 
war  of  independence  as  well  as  under  the  present  Constitution." 

The  violent  opposition  to  the  excise  law  by  a  portion  of  the  peo 
ple,  particularly  in  the  interior  of  Pennsylvania,  where  meetings 
were  held,  and  the  revenue  officers  threatened  with  personal  injury, 
induced  Congress,  in  May,  1792,  to  pass  an  act  authorizing  the 
President  to  call  out  the  militia  to  assist  in  executing  the  laws,  if 
he  should  deem  proper.  The  President,  being  reluctant  to  employ 
military  force,  issued"  a  proclamation  exhorting  the  people  to  desist 
from  all  illegal  acts  and  meetings,  but  these  efforts  proved  inef 
fectual.  The  discontents  continued,  until,  in  August,  1794,  the 
70  3  A 


554  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

"whisky  insurrection"  had  assumed  so  serious  a  character  in 
Western  Pennsylvania,  that  an  army  of  volunteers  and  militia  was 
formed  to  suppress  it,  numbering  about  fifteen  thousand  men. 
The  insurgents  did  not  venture  to  meet  this  forc£,  the  insurrection 
ceased,  and  the  excise  law  was  enforced. 

The  third  Congress  of  the  United  States,  which  first  assembled 
in  December,  1793,  was  about  equally  divided  between  the  two 
great  political  parties.  During  the  interval  between  the  final 
adjournment  of  the  third  Congress  and  the  meeting  of  the  fourth,  a 
treaty  was  made  with  Algiers,  by  Mr.  Donaldson,  acting  under 
Colonel  Humphreys,  the  United  States  copsul  at  Portugal.  The 
terms  were  disadvantageous,  but  the  best  that  could  be  obtained. 
When  the  first  session  of  the  fourth  Congress  was  commenced,  it 
was  found  that  the  friends  of  the  administration  had  increased  their 
majority  in  the  Senate,  while  the  House  of  Representatives  showed 
a  majority  in  opposition.  In  the  answer  to  the  President's  speech, 
the  House  of  Representatives  refused  to  adopt  a  report  returned  by 
their  committee,  until  some  expressions  of  u-ndiminished  confidence 
were  changed;  Their  measures  in  opposition  to  the  British  treaty 
expressed  still  further  their  dissatisfaction  with  the  measures  of  the 
administration.  Several  important  acts  were  adopted  at  this  session, 
among  which  was  one  establishing  agencies  among  the  Indian 
tribes,  and  another  making  provision  for  the  sale  of  the  public 
lands.  Another  provided  for  the  relief  and  protection  of  American 
seamen,  and  on  the  last  day  of  the  session,  June  1st,  1796,  Ten 
nessee  was  admitted  into  the  Union. 

After  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  the  third  election  for  Presi 
dent  engaged  the  public  attention.  General  Washington  was  ear 
nestly  solicited  to  be  a  candidate  for  re-election,  but  positively 
declined.  He  had  been  forced,  as  it  were,  from  the  enjoyment  of 
private  life,  by  the  power  of  public  opinion,  and  considerations  of 
national  usefulness ;  but  he  had  yielded  to  this  coercion  with  painful 
reluctance.  He  had  conducted  the  ship  of  state  through  the 
stormy  tempests  of  domestic  discord  and  foreign  aggression,  and 
now  that  he  supposed  her  safely  moored,  he  turned  his  eyes  to  the 
shades  of  Mount  Vernon,  with  longings  for  tranquillity  and  repose. 
Another  motive  had  much  weight  with  him  in  the  formation  of  this 
resolution :  the  establishment,  by  a  precedent,  of  a  wholesome  limit 
to  executive  power,  which  the  Constitution  had  left  open  to  an 
indefinite  practice. 

In  September,  1796,  he  announced  his  intention  to  the  people, 
in  his  memorable  Farewell  Address.  In  this  document  he  made 


THE    THIRD    PRESIDENCY.  555 

a  last  effort  to  impress  upon  his  countrymen  those  great  political 
truths  which  had  been  the  guides  of  his  own  administration,  and 
could  alone  form  a  sure  and  solid  basis  for  the  happiness,  the  inde 
pendence,  and  the  liberty  of  the  United  States.  The  sentiments 
of  veneration  with  which  this  address  was  generally  received  were 
manifested  in  almost  every  part  of  the  Union.  Some  of  the  state 
legislatures  directed  it  to  be  inserted  at  large  in  their  journals ;  and 
nearly  all  of  them  passed  resolutions  expressing  their  respect  for 
the  President,  their  high  sense  of  his  exalted  services,  and  the 
emotions  with  which  they  contemplated  his  retirement  from  office. 

The  person  in  whom  alone  the  voice  of  the  people  could  be 
united  having  declined  a  re-election,  the  two  great  parties  in  the 
United  States  respectively  brought  forward  their  chiefs,  and  every 
possible  effort  was  made  by  each  to  obtain  the  victory.  By  the 
federalists,  Mr.  John  Adams  and  Mr.  Thomas  Pinckney,  the  late 
minister  to  England,  were  supported  as  President  and  Vice-presi 
dent  ;  the  republican  party  united  in  support  of  Mr.  Jefferson.  In 
November,  while  the  election  was  pending,  and  parties  were  so 
nearly  balanced  that  neither  scale  could  be  perceived  to  prepon 
derate,  Mr.  Adet,  the  minister  of  France,  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
Secretary  of  State,  which  he  also  caused  to  be  immediately  published, 
in  which  he  recapitulated  the  numerous  complaints  which  had 
been  urged  by  himself  and  his  predecessors  against  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  ;  reproached  that  government  in  terms 
of  great  asperity  with  violating  those  treaties  which  had  secured  its 
independence,  with  ingratitude  to  France,  and  with  partiality  to 
England.  He  also  announced  orders  of  the  Directory  to  suspend 
his  ministerial  functions  with  the  federal  government,  a  suspension 
which  was  not,  however,  to  be  regarded  as  a  rupture  between 
France  and  the  United  States,  but  as  a  mark  of  just  discontent, 
which  was  to  last  until  the  government  of  the  United  States  re 
turned  to  sentiments  and  to  measures  more  conformable  to  the  inte 
rests  of  the  alliance,  and  to  the  sworn  friendship  between  the  two 
nations.  It  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  this  extraordinary  pro? 
ceeding  was  intended  to  influence  the  people  in  the  election  of  a 
new  President,  but  if  it  produced  any  effect  upon  the  result  of  that 
election,  it  was  to  render  more  determined  and  more  vigorous 
the  exertions  of  the  friends  of  that  candidate  whose  election  Mr. 
Adet  deprecated.* 

On  the  7th  of  December,  1796,  Washington  met  Congress  for 
the  last  time.  His  address  on  the  occasion  was  highly  dignified. 

*  Marshall. 


556  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

He  congratulated  Congress  on  the  internal  situation  of  the  United 
States ;  on  the  progress  which  had  been  made  for  preserving  peace 
with  the  Indians  and  meliorating  their  condition,  and  after  stating 
the  measures  which  had  been  adopted  in  execution  of  the  treaties 
with  Britain,  Spain,  and  Algiers,  and  the  negotiations  which  were 
pending  with  Tunis  and  Tripoli,  he  observed : — "To  an  active 
external  commerce,  the  protection  of  a  naval  force  is  indispensable. 
This  is  manifest  with  regard  to  wars  in  which  a  state  is  itself  a 
party.  But  besides  this,  it  is  in  our  own  experience,  that  the 
most  sincere  neutrality  is  not  a  sufficient  guard  against  the  depreda 
tions  of  nations  at  war.  To  secure  respect  to  a  neutral  flag,  re 
quires  a  naval  force,  organized  and  ready  to  vindicate  it  from  in 
sult  or  aggression.  This  may  even  prevent  the  necessity  of  going 
to  \var,  by  discouraging  belligerent  powers  from  committing  such 
violations  of  the  rights  of  the  neutral  party,  as  may  first  or  last 
leave  no  other  option.  From  the  best  information  I  have  been  able 
to  obtain,  it  would  seem  as  if  our  trade  to  the  Mediterranean, 
without  a  protecting  force,  will  always  be  insecure,  and  our  citizens 
exposed  to  the  calamities  from  which  numbers  of  them  have  but 
just  been  relieved. 

"These  considerations  invite  the  United  States  to  look  to  the 
means,  and  to  set  about  the  gradual  creation  of  a  navy.  The  in 
creasing  progress  of  their  navigation  promises  them,  at  no  distant 
period,  the  requisite  supply  of  seamen,  and  their  means  in  other 
respects  favour  the  undertaking.  It  is  an  encouragement  likewise, 
that  their  particular  situation  will  give  weight  and  influence  to  a 
moderate  naval  force  in  their  hands.  Will  it  not  then  be  advisable 
to  begin  without  delay,  to  provide  and  lay  up  the  materials  for  the 
building  and  equipping  of  ships  of  war,  and  to  proceed  in  the 
work  by  degrees,  in  proportion  as  our  resources  shall  render  it 
practicable,  without  inconvenience,  so  that  a  future  war  of  Europe 
may  not  find  our  commerce  in  the  same  unprotected  state  in  which 
it  was  found  by  the  present  ?" 

He  then  recommended  the  establishment  of  national  works  for 
manufacturing  implements  of  defence  ;  of  an  institution  for  the 
improvement  of  agriculture  ;  and  pointed  out  the  advantages  of  a 
military  academy,  of  a  national  university,  and  the  necessity  of 
augmenting  the  salaries  of  the  officers  of  the  United  States. 

In  respect  to  the  disputes  with  France,  he  observed  : — "  While 
in  our  external  relations  some  serious  inconveniences  and  embar- 
rasments  have  been  overcome,  and  others  lessened,  it  is  with  much 
pain  and  deep  regret  I  mention,  that  circumstances  of  a  very  un- 


FAREWELL   ADDRESS.  557 

welcome  nature  have  lately  accrued.  Our  trade  has  suffered  and  is 
suffering  extensive  injuries  in  the  West  Indies,  from  the  cruisers 
and  agents  of  the  French  republic,  and  communications  have  been 
received  for  its  minister  here,  which  indicate  the  danger  of  a  further 
disturbance  of  our  commerce  by  its  authority ;  and  which  are  in 
other  respects  far  from  agreeable. 

"  It  has  been  my  constant,  sincere;  and  earnest  wish,  in  confor 
mity  with  that  of  our  nation,  to  maintain  cordial  harmony  and  a 
perfectly  friendly  understanding  with  that  republic.  This  wish 
remains  unabated,  and  I  shall  persevere  in  the  endeavour  to  fulfil  it, 
to  the  utmost  extent  of  what  shall  be  consistent  with  a  just  and  in 
dispensable  regard  to  the  rights  and  honour  of  our  country ;  nor 
will  I  easily  cease  to  cherish  the  expectation  that  a  spirit  of  justice, 
candour,  and  friendship,  on  the  part  of  the  republic,  will  eventually 
ensure  success. 

"In  pursuing  this  course,  however,  I  cannot  forget  what  is  due  to 
the  character  of  our  government  and  nation,  or  to  a  full  and  entire 
confidence  in  the  good  sense,  patriotism,  self-respect,  and  fortitude 
of  my  countrymen." 

This  address  was  concluded  in  the  following  pathetic  terms  : 

"The  situation  in  which  I  now  stand  for  the'  last  time,  in  the 
midst  of  the  representatives  of  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
naturally  recalls  the  period  \vhen  the  administration  of  the  present 
form  of  government  commenced  ;  and  I  cannot  omit  the  occasion 
to  congratulate  you  and  my  country  on  the  success  of  the  experi 
ment,  nor  to  repeat  my  fervent  supplications  to  the  Supreme  Ruler 
of  the  universe,  and  sovereign  arbiter  of  nations,  that  his  provi 
dential  care  may  still  be  extended  to  the  United  States  ;  that  the 
virtue  and  happiness  of  the  people  may  be  preserved  ;  and  that 
the  government  which  they  have  instituted  for  the  protection  of 
their  liberties  may  be  perpetual." 

The  pleasing  emotions  which  are  excited  in  ordinary  men  on 
their  acquisition  of  power,  were  inferior  to  those  which  Washing 
ton  felt  on  the  resignation  of  it.  To  his  tried  friend,  General 
Knox,  on  the  day  preceding  the  termination  of  his  office,  he  ob 
served  in  a  letter :  "To  the  weary  traveller  who  sees  a  resting 
place  and  is  bending  his  body  thereon,  I  now  compare  myself. 
Although  the  prospect  of  retirement  is  most  grateful  to  my  soul, 
and  I  have  riot  a  wrish  to  mix  again  in  the  great  world,  or  to  partake 
in  its  politics,  yet  I  am  not  without  regret  at  parting  with  (perhaps 
never  more  to  meet)  the  few  intimates  whom  I  love.  Among  these 
be  assured  you  are  one." 

3  A2 


558  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

The  numerous  calumnies  of  which  Washington  was  the  subject, 
drew  from  him  no  public  animadversions,  except  in  one  case.  A 
volume  of  letters,  said  to  be  from  General  Washington  to  John 
Parke  Custis  and  Lund  Washington,  were  published  by  the  British, 
in  the  year  1776,  and  were  given  to  the  public  9s  being  found  in  a 
small  portmanteau,  left  in  the  care  of  his  servant,  who,  it  was  said 
by  the  editors,  had  been  taken  prisoner  in  Fort  Lee.  These  letters 
were  intended  to  produce  in  the  public  mind  impressions  unfavour 
able  to  the  integrity  of  Washington's  motives,  and  to  represent  his 
inclinations  as  at  variance  with  his  profession  and  duty.  When 
the  first  edition  of  these  spurious  letters  was  forgotten,  they  were 
republished  during  Washington's  civil  administration,  by  some  of 
his  fellow-citizens  who  differed  from  him  in  politics.  On  the  morn 
ing  of  the  last  day  of  his  Presidency  he  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
Secretary  of  State,  in  which,  after  enumerating  all  the  facts  and 
dates  connected  with  the  forgery,  and  declaring  that  he  had  hitherto 
deemed  it  unnecessary  to  take  any  formal  notice  of  the  imposition, 
he  concluded  as  follows  : — «  But  as  I  cannot  know  how  soon  a 
more  serious  event  may  succeed  to  that  which  will  this  day  take 
place,  I  have  thought  it  a  duty  that  I  owed  to  myself,  to  my  country, 
and  to  truth,  now^to  detail  the  circumstances  above  recited,  and  to 
add  my  solemn  declaration  that  the  letters  herein  described  are  a 
base  forgery,  and  that  I  never  saw  or  heard  of  them  until  they 
appeared  in  print.  The  present  letter  I  commit  to  your  care,  and 
desire  it  may  be  deposited  in  the  office  of  the  Department  of  State 
as  a  testimony  of  the  truth  to  the  present  generation  and  to  pos 
terity." 

The  moment  now  approached  which  was  to  terminate  the  official 
character  of  Washington,  and  in  which  that  of  his  successor,  John 
Adams,  was  to  commence.  The  old  and  new  President  walked  in 
together  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  where  the  oath  of  office 
was  administered  to  the  latter.  On  this  occasion  Mr.  Adams  con 
cluded  an  impressive  speech  with  a  handsome  compliment  to  his 
predecessor,  by  observing  that  though  he  was  about  to  retire,  "  his 
name  may  still  be  a  rampart  and  the  knowledge  that  he  lives  a 
bulwark  against  all  open  or  secret  enemies  of  his  country." 

The  immense  concourse  of  citizens  who  were  present  gazed  with 
love  and  affection  on  the  retiring  Washington,  while  cheerfulness 
overspread  his  countenance  and  joy  filled  his  heart,  on  seeing  an 
other  invested  with  the  high  authorities  he  so  long  exercised,  and 
the  way  opened  for  his  returning  to  the  long-wished-for  happiness 
of  domestic  private  life.  After  paying  his  respects  to  the  new 


RETROSPECT   OF   HIS   ADMINISTRATION.      559 

President,  he  set  out  for  Mount  Vernon,  the  scene  of  enjoyment 
which  he  preferred  to  all  others.  His  wishes  to  travel  privately  were 
in  vain  ;  for  wherever  he  passed,  the  gentlemen  of  the  country  took 
every  occasion  of  testifying  their  respect  for  him.  In  his  retire 
ment  he  continued  to  receive  the  most  flattering  addresses  from 
legislative  bodies,  and  various  classes  of  his  fellow-citizens. 

During  the  eight  years'  administration  of  Washington,  the  United 
States  enjoyed  prosperity  and  happiness  at  home ;  and,  by  the 
energy  of  the  government,  regained  among  foreigners  that  import 
ance  and  reputation,  which,  by  its  weakness,  they  had  lost.  The 
debts  contracted  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  which,  from  the  imbe 
cility  of  the  old  government,  had  depreciated  to  an  insignificant 
sum,  were  funded  ;  and  such  ample  revenues  provided  for  the 
payment  of  the  interest  and  the  gradual  extinction  of  the  principal, 
that  their  real  and  nominal  value  were,  in  a  little  time,  nearly  the 
same.  The  government  was  so  firmly  established  as  to  be  cheer 
fully  and  universally  obeyed.  The  only  exception  was  an  insur 
rection  in  the  western  counties  of  Pennsylvania,  which  was  quelled 
without  bloodshed.  Agriculture  and  commerce  were  extended  far 
beyond  what  had  ever  before  taken  place.  The  Indians  on  the  fron 
tiers  had  been  first  compelled  by  force  to  respect  the  United  States, 
and  to  continue  in  peace  ;  and  afterwards  a  humane  system  was  com 
menced  for  teaching  them  to  exchange  the  tomahawk  and  scalping- 
knife  for  the  plough,  the  hoe,  the  shuttle,  and  the  spinning-wheel. 
The  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  had  been  acquired  with  the 
consent  of  Spain,  and  all  differences  compromised  writh  that  powrer. 
The  military  posts  wThich  had  been  long  held  by  Britain  within  the 
United  States,  were  peaceably  given  up.  The  Mediterranean  was 
opened  to  American  vessels  in  consequence  of  treaties  made  with 
the  Barbary  powers.  Indeed,  differences  with  all  powers,  either 
contiguous  to  or  connected  with  the  United  States,  had  been  ami 
cably  adjusted,  with  the  exception  of  France.  To  accomplish  this 
very  desirable  object,  Washington  made  repeated  advances  ;  but  it 
could  not  be  obtained  without  surrendering  the  independence  of 
the  nation,  and  its  right  of  self-government. 


560 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 


THE     NEW     TOMB 


A.SHINQTON. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


HE  season  of  repose  which  now  awaited 
him  was  as  welcome  as  it  was  necessary 
to  Washington.  On  returning  to  Mount 
Vernon,  he  resumed  agricultural  pursuits. 
These,  with  the  society  of  men  and  books, 
gave  to  every  hour  innocent  and  interest 
ing  employment ;  and  promised  a  serene 
evening  of  his  life.  Though  he  wished 
to  withdraw  not  only  from  public  office, 
but  from  all  anxiety  respecting  public  affairs,  yet  he  felt  too  much 
for  his  country  to  be  indifferent  to  its  interests.  He  heard  with 
regret  the  repeated  insults  offered  by  the  French  Directory  to  the 
United  States,  in  the  person  of  their  ministers,  and  the  injuries 
done  to  their  commerce,  by  illegal  capture  of  their  vessels.  These 
indignities  and  injuries,  after  a  long  endurance  and  a  rejection  of 
all  advances  for  an  accommodation,  at  length  roused  the  government, 
in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Adams,  to  adopt  vigorous  measures.  To  be 
in  readiness  to  repel  a  threatened  invasion,  Congress  authorized 
the  formation  of  a  regular  army.  As  soon  as  the  adoption  of  this 


APPOINTED    COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.  563 

measure  was  probable,  the  eyes  of  all  were  once  more  turned  on 
Washington  as  the  most  suitable  person  to  be  at  its  head.  Letters 
from  his  friends  poured  in  upon  him,  urging  that  he  should  accept 
the  command.  In  one  received  from  President  Adams,  it  was 
observed,  "We  must  have  your  name,  if  you  will  in  any  case  per 
mit  us  to  use  it ;  there  will  be  more  efficacy  in  it  than  in  many  an 
army."  A  letter  from  the  Secretary  of  War,  written  four  days 
afterwards,  concludes  with  asking,  "  may  we  flatter  ourselves,  that, 
in  a  crisis  so  awful  and  important,  you  will  accept  the  command 
of  all  our  armies.  I  hope  you  will,  because  you  alone  can  unite  all 
hearts  and  all  hands,  if  it  is  possible  that  they  can  be  united."  In 
reply  to  this  letter,  Washington  writes,  "  It  cannot  be  necessary  for 
me  to  premise  to  you,  or  to  others  who  know  my  sentiments,  that 
to  quit  the  tranquillity  of  retirement,  and  enter  the  boundless  field 
of  responsibility,  would  be  productive  of  sensations  which  a  better 
pen  than  I  possess  would  find  it  difficult  to  describe.  Nevertheless, 
the  principle  by  which  my  conduct  has  been  actuated  through  life, 
would  not  suffer  me,  in  any  great  emergency,  to  withhold  any  ser 
vices  I  could  render  when  required  by  my  country  ;  especially,  in 
a  case  where  its  dearest  rights  are  assailed  by  lawless  ambition 
and  intoxicated  power,  in  contempt  of  every  principle  of  justice, 
and  in  violation  of  solemn  compact,  and  of  laws  which  govern  all 
civilized  nations ;  and  this,  too,  with  the  obvious  intent  to  sow 
thick  the  seeds  of  disunion,  for  the  purpose  of  subjugating  our 
government,  and  destroying  our  independence  and  happiness. 

"  Under  circumstances  like  these,  accompanied  by  an  actual 
invasion  of  our  territory,  it  would  be  difficult  for  me  at  any  time 
to  remain  an  idle  spectator,  under  the  plea  of  age  or  retirement. 
With  sorrow,  it  is  true,  I  should  quit  the  shades  of  my  peaceful 
abode,  and  the  ease  and  happiness  I  now  enjoy,  to  encounter  anew 
the  turmoils  of  war,  to  which  possibly  my  strength  and  powers 
might  be  found  incompetent.  These,  however,  should  not  be 
stumbling-blocks  in  my  own  way." 

President  Adams  nominated  Washington  with  the  rank  of  lieu 
tenant-general,  to  the  chief  command  of  all  the  armies  raised  and 
to  be  raised  in  the  United  States.  His  commission  was  sent  to 
him  by  Mr.  McHenry,  the  Secretary  of  War,  who  was  directed  to 
repair  to  Mount  Vernon,  and  to  confer  on  the  arrangements  of  the 
new  army  with  its  commander-in-chief.  To  the  letter  which  Pre 
sident  Adams  sent  with  the  commission  by  the  Secretary  of  War, 
Washington  in  two  days  replied  as  follows : 

«I  had  the  honour,  on  the  evening  of  the  llth  instant,  to  receive 


564  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

from  the  hand  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  your  favour  of  the  7th, 
announcing  that  you  had,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate, 
appointed  me  <  Lieutenant-general  and  commander-in-chief  of  all 
the  armies  raised,  or  to  be  raised,  for  the  service  of  the  United 
States.' 

« I  cannot  express  how  greatly  affected  I  am  at  this  new  proof 
of  public  confidence,  and  the  highly  flattering  manner  in  which 
you  have  been  pleased  to  make  the  communication.  At  the  same 
time,  I  must  not  conceal  from  you  my  earnest  wish,  that  the  choice 
had  fallen  upon  a  man  less  declined  in  years,  and  better  qualified 
to  encounter  the  usual  vicissitudes  of  war. 

"  You  know,  sir,  what  calculation  I  had  made  relative  to  the  pro 
bable  course  of  events  on  my  retiring  from  office,  and  the  determi 
nation  I  had  consoled  myself  with,  of  closing  the  remnant  of  my 
days  in  my  present  peaceful  abode.  You  will  therefore  be  at  no 
loss  to  conceive  and  appreciate  the  sensations  I  must  have  experi 
enced,  to  bring  my  mind  to  any  conclusion  that  would  pledge  me, 
at  so  late  a  period  of  life,  to  leave  scenes  I  sincerely  love,  to  enter 
upon  the  boundless  field  of  public  action,  incessant  trouble,  and 
high  responsibility. 

"  It  was  not  possible  for  me  to  remain  ignorant  of,  or  indiffer 
ent  to,  recent  transactions.  The  conduct  of  the  Directory  of  France 
towards  our  country ;  their  insidious  hostility  to  its  government ; 
their  various  practices  to  withdraw  the  affections  of  the  people  from 
it ;  the  evident  tendency  of  their  acts,  and  those  of  their  agents,  to 
countenance  and  invigorate  disaffection ;  their  disregard  of  solemn 
treaties  and  the  laws  of  nations ;  their  war  upon  our  defenceless 
commerce  ;  their  treatment  of  our  ministers  of  peace  ;  and  their  de 
mands,  amounting  to  tribute,  could  not  fail  to  excite  in  me  corre 
sponding  sentiments  with  those  my  countrymen  have  so  generally 
expressed  in  their  affectionate  addresses  to  you.  Believe  me,  sir, 
no  one  can  more  cordially  approve  of  the  wise  and  prudent  measures 
of  your  administration.  They  ought  to  inspire  universal  confidence, 
and  will,  no  doubt,  combined  with  the  state  of  things,  call  from 
Congress  such  laws  and  means  as  will  enable  you  to  meet  the  full 
force  and  extent  of  the  crisis. 

"  Satisfied,  therefore,  that  you  have  sincerely  wished  and  endea 
voured  to  avert  war,  and  exhausted  to  the  last  drop  the  cup  of  re 
conciliation,  we  can  with  pure  hearts  appeal  to  Heaven  for  the 
justice  of  Our  cause  ;  and  may  confidently  trust  the  final  result  to 
that  kind  Providence  who  has  heretofore  and  so  often  signally 
favoured  the  people  of  these  United  States. 


APPOINTED    COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.  565 

"  Thinking  in  this  manner,  and  feeling  how  incumbent  it  is  upon 
every  person  of  every  description,  to  contribute  at  all  times  to  his 
country's  welfare,  and  especially  in  a  moment  like  the  present, 
when  every  thing  we  hold  dear  and  sacred  is  so  seriously  threatened ; 
I  have  finally  determined  to  accept  the  commission  of  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  armies  of  the  United  States  ;  with  the  reserve  only 
that  I  shall  not  be  called  into  the  field  until  the  army  is  in  a  situa 
tion  to  require  my  presence,  or  it  becomes  indispensable  by  the 
urgency  of  circumstances. 

« In  making  this  reservation,  I  beg  it  to  be  understood,  that  I  do 
not  mean  to  withhold  any  assistance  to  arrange  and  organize  the 
army,  which  you  may  think  I  can  afford.  I  take  the  liberty  also  to 
mention  that  I  must  decline  having  my  acceptance  considered  as 
drawing  after  it  any  immediate  charge  upon  the  public  ;  or  that  I 
can  receive  any  emoluments  annexed  to  the  appointment,  before 
entering  into  a  situation  to  incur  expense." 

The  time  of  Washington,  after  the  receipt  of  this  appointment, 
was  divided  between  agricultural  pursuits  and  the  cares  and  atten 
tions  wrhich  were  imposed  by  his  new  office.  The  organization  of 
the  army  was,  in  a  great  measure,  left  to  him.  Much  of  his  time 
was  employed  in  making  a  proper  selection  of  officers  and  arrang 
ing  the  whole  army  in  the  best  possible  manner  to  meet  the  invaders 
at  the  water's  edge ;  for  he  contemplated  a  system  of  continued 
attack,  and  frequently  observed,  "  that  the  enemy  must  never  be 
permitted  to  gain  foothold  on  the  shores  of  the  United  States." 
Yet  he  always  thought  that  an  actual  invasion  of  the  country  was 
very  improbable.  He  believed  that  the  hostile  measures  of  France 
took  their  rise  from  an  expectation  that  these  measures  would  pro 
duce  a  revolution  of  power  in  the  United  States,  favourable  to  the 
views  of  the  .French  republic  ;  and  that  when  the  spirit  of  the 
Americans  was  roused,  the  French  wrould  give  up  the  contest. 
Events  soon  proved  that  these  opinions  were  well  founded ;  for  no 
sooner  had  the  United  States  armed,  than  they  were  treated  with 
respect,  and  an  indirect  communication  was  made  that  France 
would  accommodate  all  matters  in  dispute  on  reasonable  terms. 
Mr.  Adams  embraced  these  overtures,  and  made  a  second  appoint 
ment  of  three  envoys  extraordinary  to  the  French  republic.  These, 
on  repairing  to  France,  found  the  Directory  overthrown  and  the 
government  in  the  hands  of  Bonaparte,  who  had  taken  no  part  in 
the  disputes  which  had  brought  the  two  countries  to  the  verge  of 
war.  With  him  negotiations  were  commenced  and  soon  terminated 
in  a  pacific  settlement  of  all  differences.  The  joy  to  which  this 

3B 


566  LIFE    OF   WASHINGTON. 

event  gave  birth  was  great ;  but  in  it  General  Washington  did  not 
partake,  for  before  accounts  arrived  of  this  amicable  adjustment,  he 
had  ceased  to  be  numbered  with  the  living. 

On  the  13th  of  December,  1799,  his  neck  and  hair  were 
sprinkled  with  a  light  rain  while  he  was  out  of*doors  attending  to 
some  improvements  on  his  estate.  In  the  following  night  he  was 
seized  with  an  inflammatory  affection  of  the  windpipe,  attended 
with  pain  and  a  difficult  deglutition,  which  was  soon  succeeded  by 
fever  and  a  laborious  respiration.  He  was  bled  in  the  night,  but 
would  not  permit  his  family  physician  to  be  sent  for  before  day. 
About  11  o'clock,  A.  M.,  Dr.  Craik  arrived,  and  rightly  judging 
that  the  case  was  serious,  recommended  that  two  consulting  phy 
sicians  should  be  sent  for.  The  united  powers  of  all  three  were 
exerted  in  vain;  in  about  twenty-four  hours  from  the  time  he 
was  in  his  usual  health,  he  expired  without  a  struggle,  and  in  the 
perfect  use  of  his  reason. 

In  every  stage  of  his  disorder  he  believed  that  he  should  die, 
and  he  was  so  much  under  this  impression,  that  he  submitted  to  the 
prescriptions  of  his  physicians  more  from  a  sense  of  duty  than 
from  any  expectation  of  relief.  After  he  had  given  them  a  trial,  he 
expressed  a  wish  that  he  might  be  permitted  to  die  without  further 
interruption.  Towards  the  close  of  his  illness,  he  undressed  him 
self  and  went  to  bed,  to  die  there.  To  his  friend  and  physician,  Dr. 
Craik,  he  said,  « I  am  dying,  and  have  been  dying  for  a  long  time, 
but  I  am  not  afraid  to  die."  The  equanimity  which  attended  him 
through  life,  did  not  forsake  him  in  death.  He  was  the  same  in  that 
moment  as  in  all  the  past,  magnanimous  and  firm  ;  confiding  in  the 
mercy  and  resigned  to  the  will  of  Heaven.  He  submitted  to  the 
inevitable  stroke  with  the  dignity  of  a  man,  the  calmness  of  a  philo 
sopher,  the  resignation  and  confidence  of  a  Christian.  *" 

On  the  I8thr  his  body,  attended  by  military  honours,  and  the 
offices  of  religion,  was  deposited  in  the  family  vault  on  his  estate. 

In  December,  1837,  the  remains  of  this  great  father  of  our  na 
tion,  after  a  slumber  of  thirty-eight  years,  were  again  exposed  by 
the  circumstance  of  placing  his  body  once,  and  for  ever,  within 
the  sarcophagus  of  marble,  made  by  Mr.  Struthers,  of  Philadelphia. 
The  body,  as  Mr.  Struthers  related,  was  still  in  wonderful  preserva 
tion  ;  the  high  pale  brow  wore  a  calm  and  serene  expression,  and 
the  lips,  pressed  together,  had  a  grave  and  solemn  smile. 

When  intelligence  reached  Congress  of  the  death  of  Washington, 
they  instantly  adjourned  until  the  next  day,  when  John  Marshall, 
then  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  since  Chief 


HIS    DEATH.  567 


OL.  D     TOUB     OF     WASHINGTON. 


Justice  of  the  United  States  and  biographer  of  Washington,  ad 
dressed  the  speaker  in  the  following  words  : 

«  The  melancholy  event  which  was  yesterday  announced  with 
doubt,  has  been  rendered  but  too  certain.  Our  Washington  is  no 
more.  The  hero,  the  patriot,  and  the  sage  of  America  ;  the  man 
on  whom  in  times  of  danger  every  eye  was  turned  and  all  hopes 
were  placed,  lives  now  only  in  his  own  great  actions,  and  in  the 
hearts  of  an  affectionate  and  afflicted  people. 

"If,  sir,  it  had  even  not  been  usual  openly  to  testify  respect  for 
the  memory  of  those  whom  Heaven  has  selected  as  its  instruments 
for  dispensing  good  to  man,  yet  such  has  been  the  uncommon 
worth,  and  such  the  extraordinary  incidents  which  have  marked 
the  life  of  him  whose  loss  we  all  deplore,  that  the  whole  American 
nation,  impelled  by  the  same  feelings,  would  call  with  one  voice 
for  a  public  manifestation  of  that  sorrow,  which  is  so  deep  and  so 
universal. 

"More  than  any  other  individual,  and  as  much  as  to  any  one 
individual  was  possible,  has  he  contributed  to  found  this  our  wide 
spreading  empire,  and  to  give  to  the  western  world  independence 
and  freedom. 

"Having  effected  the  great  object  for  which  he  was  placed  at 
the  head  of  our  armies,  we  have  seen  him  convert  the  sword  into 
the  ploughshare,  and  sink  the  soldier  into  the  citizen, 

"When  the  debility  of  our  federal  system  had  become  manifest, 
and  the  bonds  which  connected  this  vast  continent  were  dissolving, 


568  LIFE   OF   WASHINGTON. 

we  have  seen  him  the  chief  of  those  patriots  who  formed  for  us  a 
Constitution,  which,  by  preserving  the  Union,  will,  I  trust,  substan 
tiate  and  perpetuate  those  blessings  which  our  Revolution  had  pro 
mised  to  bestow. 

"In  obedience  to  the  general  voice  of  his  country,  calling  him 
to  preside  over  a  great  people,  we  have  seen  him  once  more  quit 
the  retirement  he  loved,  and  in  a  season  more  stormy  and  tempest 
uous  than  war  itself,  with  calm  and  wise  determination,  pursue  the 
true  interests  of  the  nation,  and  contribute  more  than  any  other  could 
contribute  to  the  establishment  of  that  system  of  policy  which  will, 
I  trust,  yet  preserve  our  peace,  our  honour,  and  our  independence. 
Having  been  twice  unanimously  chosen  the  chief  magistrate  of  a 
free  people,  we  have  seen  him,  at  a  time  when  his  re-election  with 
universal  suffrage  could  not  be  doubted,  afford  to  the  world  a  rare 
instance  of  moderation,  by  withdrawing  from  his  high  station  to 
the  peaceful  walks  of  private  life.  However  the  public  confidence 
may  change  and  the  public  affections  fluctuate  with  respect  to 
others,  with  respect  to  him  they  have,  in  war  and  in  peace,  in 
public  and  in  private  life,  been  as  steady  as  his  own  firm  mind,  and 
as  constant  as  his  own  exalted  virtues.  Let  us  then,  Mr.  Speaker, 
pay  the  last  tribute  of  respect  and  affection  to  our  departed  friend. 
Let  the  grand  council  of  the  nation  display  those  sentiments  which 
the  nation  feels.  For  this  purpose,  I  hold  in  my  hand  some  reso 
lutions  which  I  take  the  liberty  of  offering  to  the  House. 

"Resolved,  That  this  House  will  wait  on  the  President  in  con 
dolence  of  this  mournful  event. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Speaker's  chair  be  shrouded  with  black, 
and  that  the  members  and  officers  of  the  House  wear  black  during 
the  session. 

"Resolved,  that  a  committee,  in  conjunction  with  one  from  the 
Senate,  be  appointed  to  consider  on  the  most  suitable  manner  of 
paying  honour  to  the  memory  of  the  man,  first  in  war,  first  in  peace, 
and  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  fellow-citizens." 

The  Senate,  on  this  melancholy  occasion,  addressed  to  the  Presi 
dent  the  following  letter : 

"  The  Senate  of  the  United  States  respectfully  take  leave,  sir,  to 
express  to  you  their  deep  regret  for  the  loss  their  country  sustains 
in  the  death  of  General  George  Washington. 

"This  event,  so  distressing  to  all  our  fellow-citizens,  must  be 
peculiarly  heavy  to  you,  who  have  long  been  associated  with  him 
in  deeds  of  patriotism.  Permit  us,  sir,  to  mingle  our  tears  with 
yours.  On  this  occasion,  it  is  manly  to  weep.  To  lose  such  a  man 


FUNEREAL    HONOURS.  569 

at  such  a  crisis,  is  no  common  calamity  to  the  world.  Our  country 
mourns  a  father.  The  Almighty  Disposer  of  human  events  has 
taken  from  us  our  greatest  benefactor  and  ornament.  It  becomes 
us  to  submit  with  reverence  to  him  <who  maketh  darkness  his 
pavilion.' 

"With  patriotic  pride  we  review  the  life  of  our  Washington,  and 
compare  its  events  with  those  of  other  countries,  who  have  been  pre 
eminent  in  fame.  Ancient  and  modern  times  are  diminished  before 
him.  Greatness  and  guilt  have  too  often  been  allied;  but  his  fame 
is  whiter  than  it  is  brilliant.  The  destroyers  of  nations  stood 
abashed  at  the  majesty  of  his  virtues.  It  reproved  the  intemperance 
of  their  ambition,  and  darkened  the  splendour  of  victory.  The 
scene  is  closed,  and  we  are  no  longer  anxious  lest  misfortune 
should  sully  his  glory;  he  has  travelled  on  to  the  end  of  his  journey, 
and  carried  with  him  an  increasing  weight  of  honour ;  he  has  de 
posited  it  safely  where  misfortune  cannot  tarnish  it,  where  malice 
cannot  blast  it.  Favoured  of  Heaven,  he  departed  without  exhibit 
ing  the  weakness  of  humanity.  Magnanimous  in  death,  the  dark 
ness  of  the  grave  could  not  obscure  his  brightness. 

« Such  was  the  man  whom  we  deplore.  Thanks  to  God,  his 
glory  is  consummated.  Washington  yet  lives  on  earth  in  his  spot 
less  example  ;  his  spirit  is  in  Heaven. 

"  Let  his  countrymen  consecrate  the  memory  of  the  heroic  gene 
ral,  the  patriotic  statesman,  and  the  virtuous  sage.  Let  them  teach 
their  children  never  to  forget,  that  the  fruits  of  his  labours  and  his 
example  are  their  inheritance." 

To  this  address,  the  President  returned  the  following  answer  :-— 

"  I  receive  with  the  most  respectful  and  affectionate  sentiments, 
in  this  impressive  address,  the  obliging  expressions  of  your  regret 
for  the  loss  our  country  has  sustained  in  the  death  of  her  most 
esteemed,  beloved,  and  admired  citizen. 

"In  the  multitude  of  my  thoughts  and  recollections  on  this  me 
lancholy  event,  you  \fill  permit  me  to  say,  that  I  have  seen  him  in 
the  days  of  adversity,  in  some  of  the  scenes  of  his  deepest  distress, 
and  most  trying  perplexities.  I  have  also  attended  him  in  the 
highest  elevation,  and  most  prosperous  felicity,  with  uniform  admi 
ration  of  his  wisdom,  moderation,  and  constancy. 

"Among  all  our  original  associates  in  that  memorable  league  of 
this  continent  in  1774,  which  first  expressed  the  sovereign  will  of 
a  free  nation  in  America,  he  was  the  only  one  remaining  in  the 
general  government.  Although  with  a  constitution  more  enfeebled 
than  his,  at  an  age  when  he  thought  it  necessary  to  prepare  for 
72  3  u2 


570  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

retirement,  I  feel  myself  alone  bereaved  of  my  last  brother,  yet  I 
derive  a  strong  consolation  from  the  unanimous  disposition  which 
appears  in  all  ages  and  classes,  to  mingle  their  sorrows  with  mine, 
on  this  common  calamity  to  the  world. 

"  The  life  of  our  Washington  cannot  suffer  by  a  comparison  with 
those  of  other  countries,  who  have  been  most  celebrated  and  exalted 
by  fame.  The  attributes  and  decorations  of  royalty  could  only 
have  served  to  eclipse  the  majesty  of  those  virtues  which  made 
him,  from  being  a  modest  citizen,  a  more  resplendent  luminary. 
Misfortune,  had  he  lived,  could  hereafter  have  sullied  his  glory  only 
with  those  superficial  minds,  who,  believing  that  character  and 
actions  are  marked  by  success  alone,  rarely  deserve  to  enjoy  it. 
Malice  could  never  blast  his  honour,  and  envy  made  him  a  singular 
exception  to  her  universal  rule.  For  himself,  he  had  lived  long 
enough  to  life  and  to  glory ;  for  his  fellow-citizens,  if  their  prayers 
could  have  been  answered,  he  would  have  been  immortal ;  for  me, 
his  departure  is  at  a  most  unfortunate  moment.  Trusting,  how 
ever,  in  the  wise  and  righteous  dominion  of  Providence  over  thp 
passions  of  men  and  the  results  of  their  actions,  as  well  as  over 
their  lives,  nothing  remains  for  me  but  humble  resignation. 

"  His  example  is  now  complete  ;  and  it  will  teach  wisdom  and 
virtue  to  magistrates,  citizens,  and  men,  not  only  in  the  present 
age,  but  in  future  generations,  as  long  as  our  history  shall  be  read. 
If  a  Trajan  found  a  Pliny,  a  Marcus  Aurelius  can  never  want  bio 
graphers,  eulogists,  or  historians." 

The  committee  of  both  Houses  appointed  to  devise  the  mode  by 
which  the  nation  should  express  its  grief,  reported  the  following 
resolutions,  which  were  unanimously  adopted. 

"  Resolved,  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That  a  marble 
monument  be  erected  by  the  United  States  at  the  capitol  of  the 
city  of  Washington,  and  that  the  family  of  General  Washington  be 
requested  to  permit  his  body  to  be  deposited  under  it,  and  that  the 
monument  be  so  designed  as  to  commemorate  the  great  events  of  his 
military  and  political  life. 

"  And  be  it  further  resolved,  that  there  be  a  funeral  from  Con 
gress  Hall  to  the  German  Lutheran  church,  in  memory  of  General 
George  Washington,  on  Thursday  the  26th  instant;  and  that  an 
oration  be  prepared  at  the  request  of  Congress,  to  be  delivered 
before  both  houses  that  day  ;  and  that  the  President  of  the  Senate 
and  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  be  desired  to  request 
one  of  the  members  of  Congress  to  prepare  and  deliver  the  same. 


FUNEREAL   HONOURS.  571 

"  And  be  it  further  resolved,  tha*t  the  President  of  the  United 
States  be  requested  to  direct  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  to  be  trans 
mitted  to  Mrs.  Washington,  assuring  her  of  the  profound  respect 
Congress  will  ever  bear  for  her  person  and  character,  of  their  con 
dolence  on  the  late  afflicting  dispensation  of  Providence :  and 
entreating  her  assent  to  the  interment  of  the  remains  of  General 
Washington  in  the  manner  expressed  in  the  first  resolution. 

"  And  be  it  further  resolved,  that  the  President  of  the  United 
States  be  requested  to  issue  his  proclamation,  notifying  to  the  peo 
ple  throughout  the  United  States,  the  recommendation  contained  in 
the  third  resolution." 

To  the  letter  of  President  Adams,  which  transmitted  to  Mrs. 
Washington  the  resolution  of  Congress  that,  she  should  be  requested 
to  permit  the  remains  of  General  Washington  to  be  deposited  under 
a  marble  monument,  to  be  erected  in  the  city  of  Washington,  she 
replied  very  much  in  the  style  and  manner  of  her  departed  husband, 
and  in  the  following  words  :  "  Taught  by  the  great  example  which  I 
have  so  long  had  before  me,  never  to  oppose  my  private  wishes  to 
the  public  will,  I  must  consent  to  the  request  made  by  Congress, 
which  you  have  had  the  goodness  to  transmit  to  me  ;  and  in  doing 
this,  I  need  not,  I  cannot  say,  what  a  sacrifice  of  individual  feeling 
I  make  to  a  sense  of  public  duty." 

>HE  honours  paid  to  Washington  at  the  seat  of 
government,  were  but  a  small  part  of  the  whole. 
Throughout  the  United  States,  the  citizens  gene 
rally  expressed,  in  a  variety  of  ways,  both  their 
grief  and  their  gratitude.  Their  heartfelt  distress 
resembled  the  agony  of  a  large  and  affectionate 
family,  when  a  bereaved  widow  and  orphan  chil 
dren  mingle  their  tears  for  the  loss  of  a  husband  and  father. 

We  cannot  better  conclude  this  volume  than  by  extracting  from 
the  works  of  Fisher  Ames  the  sketch  of  the  character  of  WTashing- 
ton,  contained  in  the  eulogium  upon  him  pronounced  by  that 
statesman  before  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts.  It  is  less  im 
passioned  than  many  similar  passages  which  we  might  select,  much 
less  so  than  the  wrell-known  character  of  Mr.  Ames  as  a  most 
brilliant  orator  would  lead  us  to  expect.  At  the  time  it  was  de 
livered,  however,  the  numerous  funereal  honours  already  paid  to  the 
memory  of  the  beloved  dead,  had  already  made  a  great  demand 
upon  the  public  sensibility.  Mr.  Ames  chose  rather  to  dwell  on  the 
political  events  and  acts  which  illustrated  his  character  than  to  draw 
tears  for  his  loss. 


572  LIFE    OF   WASHINGTON. 

« It  is  not  impossible,"  he  said,  « that  some  will  affect  to  con 
sider  the  honours  paid  to  this  great  patriot  by  the  nation,  as  exces 
sive,  idolatrous,  and  degrading  to  freemen  who  are  all  equal.  I 
answer,  that  refusing  to  virtue  its  legitimate  honours  would  not  pre 
vent  their  being  lavished  in  future,  on  any  worthless  and  ambitious 
favourite.  If  this  day's  example  should  have  its  natural  effect,  it 
will  be  salutary.  Let  such  honours  be  so  conferred  only  when,  in 
future,  they  shall  be  so  merited  ;  then  the  public  sentiment  will  not 
be  misled,  nor  the  principles  of  a  just  equality  corrupted.  The 
best  evidence  of  reputation  is  a  man's  whole  life.  We  have  now, 
alas,  all  of  Washington's  before  us.  There  has  scarcely  appeared  a 
really  great  man  whose  character  has  been  more  admired  in  his 
lifetime,  or  less  correctly  understood  by  his  admirers.  When  it  is 
comprehended,  it  is  no  easy  task  to  delineate  its  excellences  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  give  the  portrait  both  interest  and  resemblance  ;  for 
it  requires  thought  and  study  to  understand  the  true  ground  of  the 
superiority  of  his  character  over  many  others,  whom  he  resembled 
in  the  principles  of  action  and  even  in  the  manner  of  acting.  But 
perhaps  he  excels  all  the  great  men  that  ever  lived  in  the  steadiness 
of  his  adherence  to  his  maxims  of  life,  and  in  the  uniformity  of 
all  his  conduct  to  those  maxims.  Those  maxims,  though  wise, 
were  yet  not  so  remarkable  for  their  wisdom  as  for  their  authority 
over  his  life,  for  if  there  were  any  errors  in  his  judgment,  and  he 
displayed  as  few  as  any  man,  we  know  of  no  blemishes  in  his 
virtue.  He  was  the  patriot  without  reproach :  he  loved  his  country 
well  enough  to  hold  his  success  in  serving  it  an  ample  recompense. 
Thus  far,  self-love  and  love  of  country  coincided  :  but  when  his 
country  needed  sacrifices  that  no  other  man  could,  or  perhaps  would 
be  willing  to  make,  he  did  not  even  hesitate.  This  was  virtue  in 
its  most  exalted  character.  More  than  once  he  put  his  fame  at 
hazard,  when  he  had  reason  to  think  it  would  be  sacrificed,  at  least 
in  this  age.  Two  instances  cannot  be  denied  :  when  the  army  was 
disbanded,  and  again  when  he  stood,  like  Leonidas  at  the  pass  of 
Thermopylae,  to  defend  our  independence  against  France. 

"It  is  indeed  almost  as  difficult  to  draw  his  character  as  to  draw 
the  portrait  of  virtue.  The  reasons  are  similar;  our  ideas  of  moral 
excellence  are  obscure,  because  they  are  complex,  and  we  are  obliged 
to  resort  to  illustrations.  Washington's  example  is  the  happiest, 
to  show  what  virtue  is ;  and  to  delineate  his  character,  we  naturally 
expatiate  on  the  beauty  of  virtue  ;  much  must  be  felt  and  much 
imagined.  His  pre-eminence  is  not  so  much  to  be  seen  in  the 
display  of  any  one  virtue,  as  in  the  possession  of  them  all,  and  in 


CHARACTER,    BY   FISHER   AMES.  573 

the  practice  of  the  most  difficult.  Hereafter,  therefore,  his  charactei 
must  be  studied  before  it  will  be  striking,  and  then  it  will  be  ad 
mitted  as  a  model,  a  precious  one  to  a  free  republic. 

"It  is  no  less  difficult  to  speak  of  his  talents.  They  were  adapted 
to  lead,  without  dazzling  mankind ;  and  to  draw  forth  and  employ 
the  talents  of  others  without  being  misled  by  them.  In  this  he 
was  certainly  superior,  that  he  neither  mistook  nor  misapplied  his 
own.  His  great  modesty  and  reserve  would  have  concealed  them 
if  great  occasions  had  not  called  them  forth  ;  and  then,  as  he  never 
spoke  from  the  affectation  to  shine,  nor  acted  from  any  sinister 
motives,  it  is  from  their  effects  only  that  we  are  to  judge  of  their 
greatness  and  extent.  In  public  trusts,  where  men,  acting  con 
spicuously,  are  cautious,  and  in  those  private  concerns,  where  few 
conceal  or  resist  their  weakness,  Washington  was  uniformly  great, 
pursuing  right  conduct  from  right  maxims.  His  talents  were  such 
as  to  assist  a  sound  judgment  and  ripen  with  it.  His  prudence 
was  consummate,  and  seemed  to  take  the  direction  of  his  powers 
and  passions ;  for,  as  a  soldier,  he  was  more  solicitous  to  avoid 
mistakes  that  might  be  fatal  than  to  perform  exploits  that  are  bril 
liant  ;  and  as  a  statesman  to  adhere  to  just  principles,  however  old, 
than  to  pursue  novelties ;  and  therefore,  in  both  characters,  his 
qualities  were  singularly  adapted  to  the  interest  and  were  tried  in 
the  greatest  perils  of  the  country.  His  habits  of  inquiry  were  so 
far  remarkable,  that  he  was  never  satisfied  with  investigating,  nor 
desisted  from  it,  so  long  as  he  had  less  than  all  the  light  that  he 
could  obtain  upon  a  subject,  and  then  he  made  his  decision  without 
bias. 

"  This  command  over  the  partialities  that  so  generally  stop  men 
short,  or  turn  them  aside  in  their  pursuit  of  truth,  is  one  of  the 
chief  causes  of  his  unvaried  course  of  right  conduct  in  so  many 
difficult  scenes,  where  every  human  action  must  be  presumed  to 
err.  If  he  had  strong  passions,  he  had  learned  to  subdue  them, 
and  to  be  moderate  and  mild.  If  he  had  weaknesses,  he  concealed 
them,  which  is  rare,  and  excluded  them  from  the  government  of  his 
temper  and  conduct,  which  is  still  more  rare.  If  he  loved  fame,  he 
never  made  improper  compliances  for  what  is  called  popularity. 
The  fame  he  enjoyed  is  of  the  kind  that  will  last  for  ever ;  yet  it 
was  rather  the  effect,  than  the  motive  of  his  conduct.*  Some  future 
Plutarch  will  search  for  a  parallel  to  his  character.  Epaminondas 
is  perhaps  the  brightest  name  of  all  antiquity.  Our  Washington 
resembled  him  in  the  purity  and  ardour  of  his  patriotism ;  and  like 
him,  he  first  exalted  the  glory  of  his  country.  There,  it  is  to  be 


574  LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON. 

hoped,  the  parallel  ends,  for  Thebes  fell  with  Epaminondas.  But 
such  comparisons  cannot  be  pursued  far,  without  departing  from 
the  similitude.  For  we  shall  find  it  as  difficult  to  compare  great 
men  as  great  rivers ;  some  we  admire  for  the  length  and  rapidity 
of  their  currents,  and  the  grandeur  of  their  cataracts ;  others  for  the 
majestic  silence  and  fulness  of  their  streams;  we  cannot  bring  them 
together  to  measure  the  difference  of  their  waters.  The  unambi 
tious  life  of  Washington,  declining  fame,  yet  courted  by  it,  seemed, 
like  the  Ohio,  to  choose  its  long  way  through  solitudes,  diffusing 
fertility ;  or  like  his  own  Potomac,  widening  and  deepening  his 
channel,  as  he  approaches  the  sea,  and  displaying  most  the  use 
fulness  and  serenity  of  his  greatness  towards  the  end  of  his  course. 
Such  a  citizen  would  do  honour  to  any  country.  The  constant 
veneration  and  affection  of  his  country  will  show  that  it  was  worthy 
of  such  a  citizen. 

"  However  his  military  fame  may  excite  the  wonder  of  mankind, 
it  is  chiefly  by  his  civil  magistracy  that  his  example  will  instruct 
them.  Great  generals  have  arisen  in  all  ages  of  the  world,  and 
perhaps  most  of  them  in  despotism  and  darkness.  In  times  of  vio 
lence  and  convulsion  they  rise,  by  the  force  of  the  whirlwind, 
high  enough  to  ride  in  it,  and  direct  the  storm.  Like  meteors, 
they  glare  on  the  black  clouds  with  a  splendour,  that,  while  it 
dazzles  and  terrifies,  makes  nothing  visible  but  the  darkness.  The 
fame  of  heroes  is  indeed  growing  vulgar :  they  multiply  in  every 
long  war ;  they  stand  in  history  and  thicken  in  their  ranks  almost 
as  undistinguished  as  their  own  soldiers. 

«  But  such  a  chief  magistrate  as  Washington  appears  like  the  pole 
star  in  a  clear  sky,  to  direct  the  skilful  statesman.  His  presidency 
will  form  an  epoch  and  be  distinguished  as  the  age  of  Washington. 
Already  it  assumes  its  high  place  in  the  political  region.  Like 
the  milky-way,  it  whitens  along  its  allotted  portion  of  the  hemi 
sphere.  The  latest  generations  of  men  will  survey,  through  the 
telescope  of  history,  the  space  where  so  many  virtues  blend  their 
rays,  and  delight  to  separate  them  into  groups  and  distinct  virtues. 
As  the  best  illustration  of  them,  the  living  monument,  to  which  the 
first  of  patriots  would  have  chosen  to  consign  his  fame,  it  is  my 
earnest  prayer  to  Heaven  that  our  country  may  subsist  even  to  that 
late  day  in  th?  plenitude  of  its  liberty  and  happiness,  and  mingle 
its  mild  glory  with  Washington's." 


\8K 

», 


APPENDIX. 


WASHINGTON'S   FAREWELL  ADDRESS  TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF 
THE  UNITED  STATES. 

FRIENDS  AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS, 

The  period  for  a  new  election  of  a  citizen  to  administer  the  execu 
tive  government  of  the  United  States  being  not  far  distant,  and  the 
time  actually  arrived  when  your  thoughts  must  be  employed  in  desig 
nating  the  person  who  is  to  be  clothed  with  that  important  trust,  it  ap 
pears  to  me  proper,  especially  as  it  may  conduce  to  a  more  distinct 
expression  of  the  public  voice,  that  I  should  now  apprize  you  of  the 
resolution  I  have  formed,  to  decline  being  considered  among  the  num 
ber  of  those,  out  of  whom  a  choice  is  to  be  made. 

I  beg  you,  at  the  same  time,  to  do  me  the  justice  to  be  assured, 
that  this  resolution  has  not  been  taken,  without  a  strict  regard  to  all  the 
considerations  appertaining  to  the  relation  which  binds  a  dutiful  citi 
zen  to  his  country  ;  and  that  in  withdrawing  the  tender  of  service 
which  silence  in  my  situation  might  imply,  I  am  influenced  by  no 
diminution  of  zeal  for  your  future  interest  ;  no  deficiency  of  grateful 
respect  for  your  past  kindness  ;  but  I  am  supported  by  a  full  conviction 
that  the  step  is  compatible  with  both. 

The  acceptance  of,  and  continuance  hitherto  in  the  office  to  which 
your  suffrages  have  twice  called  me,  have  been  a  uniform  sacrifice  of 
inclination  to  the  opinion  of  duty,  and  to  a  deference  for  what  appeared 
to  be  your  desire.  I  constantly  hoped  that  -it  would  have  been  much 
earlier  in  my  power,  consistently  with  motives  which  I  was  not  at 
liberty  to  disregard,  to  return  to  that  retirement  from  which  I  had  been 
reluctantly  drawn.  The  strength  of  my  inclination  to  do  this,  previous 
to  the  last  election,  had  even  led  to  the  preparation  of  an  address  to 
declare  it  to  you  ;  but  mature  reflection  on  the  then  perplexed  and  criti 
cal  posture  of  cur  affairs  with  foreign  nations,  and  the  unanimous 
rdvice  of  persons  entitled  to  my  confidence,  impelled  me  to  abandon 
the  idea. 

575 


576  APPENDIX. 

I  rejoice  that  the  state  of  your  concerns,  external  as  well  as  inter 
nal,  no  longer  renders  the  pursuit  of  inclination  incompatible  with  the 
sentiment  of  duty  or  propriety  ;  and  am  persuaded,  whatever  partiality 
may  be  retained  for  my  services,  that  in  the  present  circumstances  of 
our  country,  you  will  not  disapprove  my  deterrrfmation  to  retire. 

The  impressions  with  which  I  first  undertook  the  arduous  trust, 
were  explained  on  the  proper  occasion.  In  the  discharge  of  this  trust, 
I  will  only  say  that  I  have,  with  good  intentions,  contributed  towards 
the  organization  and  administration  of  the  government,  the  best  exer 
tions  of  which  a  very  fallible  judgment  was  capable.  Not  unconscious, 
in  the  outset,  of  the  inferiority  of  my  qualifications,  experience,  in  my 
own  eyes,  perhaps  still  more  in  the  eyes  of  others,  has  strengthened 
the  motives  to  diffidence  of  myself;  and,  every  day,  the  increasing 
weight  of  years  admonishes  me  more  and  more,  that  the  shade  of  re 
tirement  is  as  necessary  to  me  as  it  will  be  welcome.  Satisfied  that 
if  any  circumstances  have  given  peculiar  value  to  my  services,  they 
were  temporary,  I  have  the  consolation  to  believe  that,  while  choice 
and  prudence  invite  me  to  quit  the  political  scene,  patriotism  does  not 
forbid  it. 

In  looking  forward  to  the  moment  which  is  to  terminate  the  career 
of  my  political  life,  my  feelings  do  not  permit  me  to  suspend  the  deep 
acknowledgment  of  that  debt  of  gratitude  which  I  owe  to  my  beloved 
country,  for  the  many  honours  it  has  conferred  upon  me  ;  still  more  for 
the  steadfast  confidence  with  which  it  has  supported  me ;  and  for  the 
opportunities  I  have  thence  enjoyed  of  manifesting  my  inviolable  at 
tachment,  by  services  faithful  and  persevering,  though  in  usefulness 
unequal  to  my  zeal.  If  benefits  have  resulted  to  our  country  from 
these  services,  let  it  always  be  remembered  to  your  praise,  as  an  in 
structive  example  in  our  annals,  that  under  circumstances  in  which  the 
passions,  agitated  in  every  direction,  were  liable  to  mislead  amidst  ap 
pearances  sometimes  dubious,  vicissitudes  of  fortune  often  discourag 
ing — in  situations  in  which,  not  unfrequently,  want  of  success  has 
countenanced  the  spirit  of  criticism — the  constancy  of  your  support 
was  the  essential  prop  of  the  efforts ,  and  a  guarantee  of  the  plans  by 
which  they  were  effected.  Profoundly  penetrated  with  this  idea,  I  shall 
carry  it  with  me  to  my  grave,  as  a  strong  incitement  to  unceasing  vows, 
that  heaven  m'ay  continue  to  you  the  choicest  tokens  of  its  beneficence 
— that  your  union  and  brotherly  affection  may  be  perpetual — that  the 
free  constitution,  which  is  the  work  of  your  hands,  may  be  sacredly 
maintained — that  its  administration  in  every  department  may  be 
stamped  with  wisdom  and  virtue — that,  in  fine,  the  happiness  of  the 
people  of  these  states,  under  the  auspices  of  liberty,  may  be  made 


WASHINGTON'S   FAREWELL    ADDRESS.        577 

complete  by  so  careful  a  preservation,  and  so  prudent  a  use  of  this 
blessing  as  will  acquire  to  them  the  glory  of  recommending  it  to  the 
applause,  the  affection,  and  adoption  of  every  nation  which  is  yet  a 
stranger  to  it. 

Here,  perhaps,  I  ought  to  stop.  But  a  solicitude  for  your  welfare, 
which  cannot  end  but  with  my  life,  and  the  apprehension  of  danger, 
natural  to  that  solicitude,  urge  me,  on  an  occasion  like  the  present,  to 
offer  to  your  solemn  contemplation,  and  to  recommend  to  your  frequent 
review,  some  sentiments  which  are  the  result  of  much  reflection,  of  no 
inconsiderable  observation,  and  which  appear  to  me  all-important  to 
the  permanency  of  your  felicity  as  a  people.  These  will  be  offered  to 
you  with  the  more  freedom,  as  you  can  only  see  in  them  the  disinte 
rested  warnings  of  a  parting  friend,  who  can  possibly  have  no  personal 
motive  to  bias  his  counsel.'  Nor  can  I  forget,  as  an  encouragement  to 
it,  your  indulgent  reception  of  my  sentiments  on  a  former  and  not  dis 
similar  occasion. 

Interwoven  as  is  the  love  of  liberty  with  every  ligament  of  your 
hearts,  no  recommendation  of  mine  is  necessary  to  fortify  or  confirm 
the  attachment. 

The  unity  of  government  which  constitutes  you  one  people,  is  also 
now  dear  to  you.  It  is  justly  so ;  for  it  is  a  main  pillar  in  the  edifice 
of  your  real  independence  ;  the  support  of  your  tranquillity  at  home  ; 
your  peace  abroad  ;  of  your  safety  ;  of  your  prosperity  ;  of  that  very 
liberty  which  you  so  highly  prize.  But,  as  it  is  easy  to  foresee,  that 
from  different  causes,  and  from  different  quarters,  much  pains  will  be 
taken,  many  artifices  employed,  to  weaken  in  your  minds  the  convic 
tion  of  this  truth;  as  this  is  the  point  in  your  political  fortress  against 
which  the  batteries  of  internal  and  external  enemies  will  be  most  con 
stantly  and  actively  (though  often  covertly  and  insidiously)  directed ; 
it  is  of  infinite  moment,  that  you  should  properly  estimate  the  im 
mense  value  of  your  national  union  to  your  collective  and  individual 
happiness  ;  that  you  should  cherish  a  cordial,  habitual,  and  immove- 
able  attachment  to  it ;  accustoming  yourselves  to  think  and  speak  of  it 
as  of  the  palladium  of  your  political  safety  and  prosperit}^  ;  watching 
for  its  preservation  with  jealous  anxiety  ;  discountenancing  whatever 
may  suggest  even  a  suspicion  that  it  can,  in  any  event,  be  abandoned ; 
and  indignantly  frowning  upon  the  first  dawning  of  every  attempt  to 
alienate  any  portion  of  our  country  from  the  rest,  or  to  enfeeble  the 
sacred  ties  which  now  link  together  the  various  parts. 

For  this  you  have  every  inducement  of  sympathy  and  interest.  Citi 
zens  by  birth,  or  choice,  of  a  common  country,  that  country  has  a  right 
to  concentrate  your  affections.  The  name  of  American,  which  belongs 
73  3C 


578  APPENDIX. 

to  you  in  your  national  capacity,  must  always  exalt  the  just  pride  of 
patriotism,  more  than  any  appellation  derived  from  local  discrimina 
tions.  With  slight  shades  of  difference,  you  have  the  same  religion, 
manners,  habits,  and  political  principles.  You  have,  in  a  common 
cause,  fought  and  triumphed  together ;  the  inde'pendence  and  liberty 
you  possess,  are  the  work  of  joint  counsels,  and  joint  efforts,  of  com 
mon  dangers,  sufferings  and  successes. 

But  these  considerations,  however  powerfully  they  address  them 
selves  to  your  sensibility,  are  greatly  outweighed  by  those  which  apply 
more  immediately  to  your  interest.  Here,  every  portion  of  our  coun 
try  finds  the  most  commanding  motives  for  carefully  guarding  and 
preserving  the  union  of  the  whole. 

The  north,  in  an  unrestrained  intercourse  with  the  south,  protected 
by  the  equal  laws  of  a  common  government,  finds  in  the  productions  of 
the  latter,  great  additional  resources  of  maritime  and  commercial  enter 
prise,  and  precious  materials  of  manufacturing  industry.  The  south, 
in  the  same  intercouse,  benefiting  by  the  same  agency  of  the  north, 
sees  its  agriculture  grow,  and  its  commerce  expand.  Turning  partly 
into  its  own  channels  the  seamen  of  the  north,  it  finds  its  particular 
navigation  invigorated  ;  and  while  it  contributes,  in  different  ways,  to 
nourish  and  increase  the  general  mass  of  the  national  navigation,  it 
looks  forward  to  the  protection  of  a  maritime  strength,  to  which  itself 
is  unequally  adapted.  The  east,  in  a  like  intercourse  with  the  west, 
already  finds,  and  in  the  progressive  improvement  of  interior  commu 
nications  by  land  and  water  will  more  and  more  find  a  valuable  vent 
for  the  commodities  which  it  brings  from  abroad,  or  manufactures  at 
home.  The  west  derives  from  the  east  supplies  requisite  to  its  growth 
and  comfort — and  what  is  perhaps  of  still  greater  consequence,  it  must 
of  necessity  owe  the  secure  enjoyment  of  indispensable  outlets  for  its 
own  productions,  to  the  weight,  influence,  and  the  future  maritime 
strength  of  the  Atlantic  side  of  the  Union,  directed  by  an  indissoluble 
community  of  interest  as  one  nation.  Any  other  tenure  by  which  the 
west  can  hold  this  essential  advantage,  whether  derived  from  its  own 
separate  strength,  or  from  an  apostate  and  unnatural  connection  with 
any  foreign  power,  must  be  intrinsically  precarious. 

While  then  every  part  of  our  country  thus  feels  an  immediate 
and  particular  interest  in  union,  all  the  parts  combined  cannot  fail  to 
find  in  the  united  mass  of  means  and  efforts,  greater  strength,  greater 
resource,  proportionably  greater  security  from  external  danger,  a  less 
frequent  interruption  of  their  peace  by  foreign  nations ;  and,  what  is 
of  inestimable  value,  they  must  derive  from  union  an  exemption  from 
those  broils  and  wars  between  themselves,  which  so  frequently  afflict 


WASHINGTON'S    FAREWELL    ADDRESS.       579 

neighbouring  countries  not  tied  together  by  the  same  government  ; 
which  their  own  rivalships  alone  would  be  sufficient  to  produce,  but 
•which,  opposite  foreign  alliances,  attachments  and  intrigues,  would 
stimulate  and  imbitter.  Hence  likewise,  they  will  avoid  the  necessity 
of  those  overgrown  military  establishments,  which  under  any  form  of 
government  are  inauspicious  to  liberty,  and  which  are  to  be  regarded 
as  particularly  hostile  to  republican  liberty.  In  this  sense  it  is,  that 
your  union  ought  to  be  considered  as  a  main  prop  of  your  liberty,  and 
that  the  love  of  the  one  ought  to  endear  to  you  the  preservation  of  the 
other. 

These  considerations  speak  a  persuasive  language  to  every  reflect 
ing  and  virtuous  mind,  and  exhibit  the  continuance  of  the  Union  as  a 
primary  object  of  patriotic  desire.  Is  there  a  doubt  whether  a  common 
government  can  embrace  so  large  a  sphere  ?  Let  experience  solve  it. 
To  listen  to  mere  speculation  in  such  a  case  were  criminal.  We  are 
authorized  to  hope  that  a  proper  organization  of  the  whole,  with  the 
auxiliary  agency  of  governments  for  the  respective  subdivisions,  will 
afford  a  happy  issue  to  the  experiment.  It  is  well  worth  a  fair  and 
full  experiment.  With  such  powerful  and  obvious  motives  to  union, 
affecting  all  parts  of  our  country,  while  experience  shall  not  have  de 
monstrated  its  impracticability,  there  will  always  be  reasons  to  distrust 
the  patriotism  of  those,  who,  in  any  quarter,  may  endeavour  to  weaken 
its  bands- 

In  contemplating  the  causes  which  may  disturb  our  union,  it  occurs, 
as  matter  of  serious  concern,  that  any  ground  should  have  been  fur 
nished  for  characterizing  parties  by  geographical  discriminations, — 
northern  and  southern — Atlantic  and  western;  whence  designing 
men  may  endeavour  to  excite  a  belief  that  there  is  a  real  difference  of 
local  interests  and  views.  One  of  the  expedients  of  party  to  acquire 
influence  within  particular  districts,  is  to  misrepresent  the  opinions  and 
aims  of  other  districts.  You  cannot  shield  yourselves  too  much  against 
the  jealousies  and  heart-burnings  which  spring  from  these  misrepresent 
ations  :  they  tend  to  render  alien  to  each  other  those  who  ought  to  be 
bound  together  by  fraternal  affection.  The  inhabitants  of  our  west 
ern  country  have  lately  had  a  useful  lesson  on  this  head  :  they  have 
seen,  in  the  negotiation  by  the  executive,  and  in  the  unanimous  ratifi 
cation  by  the  Senate  of  the  treaty  with  Spain,  and  in  the  universal  sat 
isfaction  at  the  event  throughout  the  United  States,  a  decisive  proof 
how  unfounded  were  the  suspicions  propagated  among  them  of  a  policy 
in  the  general  government  and  in  the  Atlantic  States,  unfriendly  to 
their  interests  in  regard  to  the  Mississippi.  They  have  been  witnesses 
to  the  formation  of  two  treaties,  that  with  Great  Britain  and  that  with 


580  APPENDIX. 

Spain,  which  secure  to  them  every  thing  they  could  desire,  in  respect 
to  our  foreign  relations,  towards  confirming  their  prosperity.  Will  it 
not  be  their  wisdom  to  relv  for  the  preservation  of  these  advantages  on 
the  union  by  which  they  were  procured  ?  will  they  not  henceforth  be 
deaf  to  those  advisers,  if  such  there  are,  who  would  sever  them  from 
their  brethren,  and  connect  them  with  aliens  ? 

To  the  efficacy  and  permanency  of  your  union,  a  government  for 
the  whole  is  indispensable.  No  alliances,  however  strict,  between  the 
parts  can  be  an  adequate  substitute  ;  they  must  inevitably  experience 
the  infractions  and  interruptions  which  all  alliances,  in  all  times,  have 
experienced.  Sensible  of  this  momentous  truth,  you  have  improved 
your  first  essay,  by  the  adoption  of  a  Constitution  of  government  bet 
ter  calculated  than  your  former  for  an  intimate  union,  and  for  the  effi 
cacious  management  of  your  common  concerns.  This  government,  the 
offspring  of  our  own  choice,  uninfluenced  and  unawed,  adopted  upon 
full  investigation  and  mature  deliberation,  completely  free  in  its  prin 
ciples,  in  the  distribution  of  its  powers  uniting  security  with  energy, 
and  containing  within  itself  a  provision  for  its  own  amendment,  has  a 
just  claim  to  your  confidence  and  your  support.  Respect  for  its  au 
thority,  compliance  with  its  laAvs,  acquiescence  in  its  measures,  are  du 
ties  enjoined  by  the  fundamental  maxims  of  true  liberty.  The  basis 
of  our  political  systems  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  make  and  to  alter 
their  constitutions  of  government.  But  the  constitution  which  at  any 
time  exists,  until  changed  by  an  explicit  and  authentic  act  of  the  whole 
people,  is  sacredly  obligatory  upon  all.  The  very  idea  of  the  power 
and  the  right  of  the  people  to  establish  government,  presupposes  the 
duty  of  every  individual  to  obey  the  established  government. 

All  obstructions  to  the  execution  of  the  laws,  all  combinations  and 
associations  under  whatever  plausible  character,  with  the  real  design 
to  direct,  control,  counteract,  or  awe  the  regular  deliberations  and  action 
of  the  constituted  authorities,  are  destructive  of  this  fundamental 
principle,  and  of  fatal  tendency.  They  serve  to  organize  faction,  to 
give  it  an  artificial  and  extraordinary  force,  to  put  in  the  place  of  the 
delegated  will  of  the  nation  the  will  of  party,  often  a  small  but  artful 
and  enterprising  Iminority  of  the  community;  and,  according  to  the 
alternate  triumphs  of  different  parties,  to  make  the  public  administra 
tion  the  mirror  of  the  ill-concerted  and  incongruous  projects  of  faction, 
rather  than  the  organ  of  consistent  and  wholesome  plans  digested  by 
common  councils,  and  modified  by  mutual  interests. 

However  combinations  or  associations  of  the  above  description  may 
now  and  then  answer  popular  ends,  they  are  likely,  in  the  course  of 
time  and  things,  to  become  potent  engines,  by  which  cunning,  ambi- 


WASHINGTON'S   FAREWELL    ADDRESS.        581 

tious,  and  unprincipled  men,  will  be  enabled  to  subvert  the  power  of  the 
people,  and  to  usurp  for  themselves  the  reins  of  government ;  destroying 
afterwards  the  very  engines  which  have  lifted  them  to  unjust  dominion. 

Towards  the  preservation  of  your  government  and  the  permanency 
of  your  present  happy  state,  it  is  requisite,  not  only  that  you  steadily 
discountenance  irregular  oppositions  to  its  acknowledged  authority,  but 
also  that  you  resist  with  care  the  spirit  of  innovation  upon  its  principles, 
however  specious  the  pretext.  One  method  of  assault  may  be  to  effect, 
in  the  forms  of  the  Constitution,  alterations  which  will  impair  the  energy 
of  the  system ;  and  thus  to  undermine  what  cannot  be  directly  over 
thrown.  In  all  the  changes  to  which  you  may  be  invited,  remember 
that  time  and  habit  are  at  least  as  necessary  to  fix  the  true  character 
of  governments  as  of  other  human  institutions  : — that  experience  is  the 
surest  standard  by  which  to  test  the  real  tendency  of  the  existing  con 
stitution  of  a  country : — that  facility  in  changes,  upon  the  credit  of 
mere  hypothesis  and  opinion,  exposes  to  perpetual  change  from  the 
endless  variety  of  hypothesis  and  opinion  :  and  remember,  especially, 
that  for  the  efficient  management  of  your  common  interests,  in  a  country 
so  extensive  as  ours,  a  government  of  as  much  vigour  as  is  consistent 
with  the  perfect  security  of  liberty  is  indispensable.  Liberty  itself 
will  find  in  such  a  government,  with  powers  properly  distributed  and 
adjusted,  its  surest  guardian.  It  is,  indeed,  little  else  than  a  name, 
where  the  government  is  too  feeble  to  withstand  the  enterprises  of  fac 
tion,  to  confine  each  member  of  the  society  within  the  limits  prescribed 
by  the  laws,  and  to  maintain  all  in  the  secure  and  tranquil  enjoyment 
of  the  rights  of  person  and  property. 

I  have  already  intimated  to  you  the  danger  of  parties  in  the  state, 
with  particular  references  to  the  founding  them  on  geographical  discri 
minations.  Let  me  now  take  a  more  comprehensive  view,  and  warn 
you  in  the  most  solemn  manner  against  the  baneful  effects  of  the  spirit 
of  party  generally. 

This  spirit,  unfortunately,  is  inseparable  from  our  nature,  having  its 
root  in  the  strongest  passions  of  the  human  mind.  It  exists  under  dif 
ferent  shapes  in  all  governments,  more  or  less  stifled,  controlled,  or  re 
pressed  ;  but  in  those  of  the  popular  form,  it  is  seen  in  its  greatest  rank- 
ness,  and  is  truly  their  worst  enemy. 

The  alternate  domination  of  one  faction  over  another,  sharpened  by 
the  spirit  of  revenge  natural  to  party  dissension,  which,  in  different 
ages  and  countries,  has  perpetrated  the  most  horrid  enormities,  is  itself 
a  frightful  despotism.  But  this  leads  at  length  to  a  more  formal  and 
permanent  despotism.  The  disorders  and  miseries  which  result,  gra 
dually  incline  the  minds  of  men  to  seek  security  and  repose  in  the  ab- 

3c2 


582  APPENDIX. 

solute  power  of  an  individual ;  and,  sooner  or  later,  the  chief  of  some 
prevailing  faction,  more  able  or  more  fortunate  than  his  competitors, 
turns  this  disposition  to  the  purposes  of  his  own  elevation  on  the  ruins 
of  public  liberty. 

Without  looking  forward  to  an  extremity  of  th*s  kind,  (which  never 
theless  ought  not  to  be  entirely  out  of  sight,)  the  common  and  con 
tinual  mischiefs  of  the  spirit  of  party  are  sufficient  to  make  it  the  in 
terest  and  duty  of  a  wise  people  to  discourage  and  restrain  it. 

It  serves  always  to  distract  the  public  councils,  and  enfeeble  the 
public  administration.  It  agitates  the  community  with  ill-founded 
jealousies  and  false  alarms  ;  kindles  the  animosity  of  one  part  against 
another;  foments  occasional  riot  and  insurrection.  It  opens  the  door 
to  foreign  influence  and  corruption,  which  finds  a  facilitated  access  to 
the  government  itself  through  the  channels  of  party  passions.  Thus 
the  policy  and  the  will  of  one  country  are  subjected  to  the  policy  and 
will  of  another. 

There  is  an  opinion  that  parties  in  free  countries  are  useful  checks 
upon  the  administration  of  the  government,  and  serve  to  keep  alive  the 
spirit  of  liberty.  This,  within  certain  limits,  is  probably  true  ;  and,  in 
governments  of  a  monarchical  cast,  patriotism  may  look  with  indul 
gence,  if  not  with  favour,  upon  the  spirit  of  party.  But  in  those  of  the 
popular  character,  in  governments  purely  elective,  it  is  a  spirit  not  to 
be  encouraged.  From  their  natural  tendency,  it  is  certain  there  will 
always  be  enough  of  that  spirit  for  every  salutary  purpose.  And  there 
being  constant  danger  of  excess,  the  effort  ought  to  be,  by  force  of 
public  opinion,  to  mitigate  and  assuage  it.  A  fire  not  to  be  quenched, 
it  demands  a  uniform  vigilance  to  prevent  it  bursting  into  a  flame,  lest, 
instead  of  warming,  it  should  consume. 

It  is  important,  likewise,  that  the  habits  of  thinking  in  a  free  country 
should  inspire  caution  in  those  intrusted  with  its  administration,  to 
confine  themselves  within  their  respective  constitutional  spheres,  avoid 
ing  in  the  exercise  of  the  powers  of  one  department,  to  encroach  upon  an 
other.  The  spirit  of  encroachment  tends  to  consolidate  the  powers  of 
all  the  departments  in  one,  and  thus  to  create,  whatever  the  form  of 
government,  a  real  despotism.  A  just  estimate  of  that  love  of  power 
and  proneness  to  abuse  it  which  predominate  in  the  human  heart,  is 
sufficient  to  satisfy  us  of  the  truth  of  this  position.  The  necessity  of 
reciprocal  checks  in  the  exercise  of  political  power,  by  dividing  and 
distributing  it  into  different  depositories,  and  constituting  each  the 
guardian  of  the  public  weal  against  invasions  of  the  others,  has  been 
evinced  by  experiments  ancient  and  modern :  some  of  them  in  our 
country,  and  under  our  own  eyes.  To  preserve  them  must  be  as 


WASHINGTON'S    FAREWELL    ADDRESS.      583 

necessary  as  to  institute  them.  If,  in  the  opinion  of  the  people,  the 
distribution  or  modification  of  the  constitutional  powers  be  in  any  par 
ticular  wrong,  let  it  be  corrected  by  an  amendment  in  the  way  which 
the  Constitution  designates.  But  let  there  be  no  change  by  usurpa 
tion  ;  for  though  this,  in  one  instance,  may  be  the  instrument  of  good, 
it  is  the  customary  weapon  by  which  free  governments  are  destroyed. 
The  precedent  must  always  greatly  overbalance  in  permanent  evil, 
any  partial  or  transient  benefit  which  the  use  can  at  any  time  yield. 

Of  all  the  dispositions  and  habits  which  lead  to  political  prosperity, 
religion  and  morality  are  indispensable  supports.  In  vain  would  that 
man  claim  the  tribute  of  patriotism,  who  should  labour  to  subvert  these 
great  pillars  of  human  happiness,  these  firmest  props  of  the  duties  of 
men  and  citizens.  The  mere  politician,  equally  with  the  pious  man, 
ought  to  respect  and  to  cherish  them.  A  volume  could  not  trace  all 
their  connections  with  private  and  public  felicity.  Let  it  simply  be 
asked,  where  is  the  security  for  property,  for  reputation,  for  life,  if 
the  sense  of  religious  obligation  desert  the  oaths  which  are  the  instru 
ments  of  investigation  in  courts  of  justice  ?  And  let  us  with  caution 
indulge  the  supposition  that  morality  can  be  maintained  without  re 
ligion.  Whatever  may  be  conceded  to  the  influence  of  refined  edu 
cation  on  minds  of  peculiar  structure,  reason  and  experience  both 
forbid  us  to  expect  that  national  morality  can  prevail  in  exclusion  of 
religious  principle. 

It  is  substantially  true,  that  virtue  or  morality  is  a  necessary  spring 
of  popular  government.  The  rule,  indeed,  extends  with  more  or  less 
force  to  every  species  of  free  government.  Who  that  is  a  sincere 
friend  to  it  can  look  with  indifference  upon  attempts  to  shake  the 
foundation  of  the  fabric  ? 

Promote,  then,  as  an  object  of  primary  importance,  institutions  for 
the  general  diffusion  of  knowledge.  In  proportion  as  the  structure  of 
a  government  gives  force  to  public  opinion,  it  should  be  enlightened. 

As  a  very  important  source  of  strength  and  security,  cherish  public 
credit.  One  method  of  preserving  it  is  to  use  it  as  sparingly  as  possi 
ble,  avoiding  occasions  of  expense,  by  cultivating  peace,  but  remember 
ing,  also,  that  timely  disbursements,  to  prepare  for  danger,  frequently 
prevent  much  greater  disbursements  to  repel  it ;  avoiding  likewise  the 
accumulation  of  debt,  not  only  by  shunning  occasions  of  expense,  but 
by  vigorous  exertions  in  time  of  peace  to  discharge  the  debts  which 
unavoidable  wars  may  have  occasioned,  not  ungenerously  throwing 
upon  posterity  the  burden  which  we  ourselves  ought  to  bear.  The 
execution  of  these  maxims  belongs  to  your  representatives,  but  it  is 
necessary  that  public  opinion  should  co-operate.  To  facilitate  to  them 


584  APPENDIX. 

the  performance  of  their  duty,  it  is  essential  that  you  should  practically 
bear  in  mind,  that  towards  the  payment  of  debts  there  must  be  reve 
nue  ;  that  to  have  revenue,  there  must  be  taxes ;  that  no  taxes  can  be 
devised  which  are  not  more  or  less  inconvenient  and  unpleasant ;  that 
the  intrinsic  embarrassment  inseparable  from  the  selection  of  the  pro 
per  objects,  (which  is  always  a  choice  of  difficulties,)  ought  to  be  a 
decisive  motive  for  a  candid  construction  of  the  conduct  of  the  govern 
ment  in  making  it,  and  for  a  spirit  of  acquiescence  in  the  measures  for 
obtaining  revenue,  which  the  public  exigencies  may  at  any  time 
dictate. 

Observe  good  faith  and  justice  towards  all  nations ;  cultivate  peace 
and  harmony  with  all.  Religion  and  morality  enjoin  this  conduct ; 
and  can  it  be  that  good  policy  does  not  equally  enjoin  it  ?  it  will  be 
worthy  of  a  free,  enlightened,  and,  at  no  distant  period,  a  great  nation, 
to  give  to  mankind  the  magnanimous  and  too  novel  example  of  a  people 
always  guided  by  an  exalted  justice  and  benevolence.  Who  can  doubt 
but,  in  the  course  of  time  and  things,  the  fruits  of  such  a  plan  would 
richly  repay  any  temporary  advantages  which  might  be  lost  by  a 
steady  adherence  to  it ;  can  it  be  that  Providence  has  not  connected 
the  permanent  felicity  of  a  nation  with  its  virtue  ?  the  experiment,  at 
least,  is  recommended  by  every  sentiment  which  ennobles  human  na 
ture.  Alas  !  is  it  rendered  impossible  by  its  vices  ? 

In  the  execution  of  such  a  plan,  nothing  is  more  essential  than  that 
permanent,  inveterate  antipathies  against  particular  nations,  and  pas 
sionate  attachments  for  others,  should  be  excluded ;  and  that,  in  place 
of  them,  just  and  amicable  feelings  towards  all  should  be  cultivated. 
The  nation  which  indulges  towards  another  an  habitual  hatred,  or  an 
habitual  fondness,  is  in  some  degree  a  slave.  It  is  a  slave  to  its  ani 
mosity  or  to  its  affection,  either  of  which  is  sufficient  to  lead  it  astray 
from  its  duty  and  its  interest.  Antipathy  in  one  nation  against  another, 
disposes  each  more  readily  to  offer  insult  and  injury,  to  lay  hold  of 
slight  causes  of  umbrage,  and  to  be  haughty  and  intractable  when  ac 
cidental  or  trifling  occasions  of  dispute  occur.  Hence,  frequent  col 
lisions,  obstinate,  envenomed,  and  bloody  contests.  The  nation, 
prompted  by  ill-will  and  resentment,  sometimes  impels  to  war  the 
government,  contrary  to  the  best  calculations  of  policy.  The  govern 
ment  sometimes  participates  in  the  national  propensity,  and  adopts 
through  passion  what  reason  would  reject  ;  at  other  times,  it  makes 
the  animosity  of  the  nation  subservient  to  projects  of  hostility,  insti 
gated  by  pride,  ambition,  and  other  sinister  and  pernicious  motives. 
The  peace  often,  sometimes  perhaps  the  liberty,  of  nations  has  been 
the  victim. 


WASHINGTON'S    FAREWELL   ADDRESS.       585 

So,  likewise,  a  passionate  attachment  of  one  nation  for  another  pro 
duces  a  variety  of  evils.  Sympathy  for  the  favourite  nation,  facilitat 
ing  the  illusion  of  an  imaginary  common  interest  in  cases  where  no  real 
common  interest  exists,  and  infusing  into  one  the  enmities  of  the  other, 
betrays  the  former  into  a  participation  in  the  quarrels  and  wars  of  the 
latter,  without  adequate  inducements  or  justification.  It  leads  also  to 
concessions  to  the  favourite  nation,  of  privileges  denied  to  others,  which 
is  apt  doubly  to  injure  the  nation  making  the  concessions  ;  by  unneces 
sarily  parting  with  what  ought  to  have  been  retained :  and  by  exciting 
jealousy,  ill  will,  and  a  disposition  to  retaliate  in  the  parties  from 
whom  equal  privileges  are  withheld:  and  it  gives  to  ambitious,  corrupted, 
or  deluded  citizens,  who  devote  themselves  to  the  favourite  nation, 
facility  to  betray  or  sacrifice  the  interests  of  their  own  country,  with 
out  odium,  sometimes  even  with  popularity ;  gilding  with  the  appear 
ances  of  a  virtuous  sense  of  obligation,  a  commendable  deference  for 
public  opinion,  or  a  laudable  zeal  for  public  good,  the  base  or  foolish 
compliances  of  ambition,  corruption,  or  infatuation. 

As  avenues  to  foreign  influence  in  innumerable  ways,  such  attach 
ments  are  particularly  alarming  to  the  truly  enlightened  and  indepen 
dent  patriot.  How  many  opportunities  do  they  afford  to  tamper  with 
domestic  factions,  to  practise  the  arts  of  seduction,  to  mislead  public 
opinion,  to  influence  or  awe  the  public  councils! — such  an  attachment 
of  a  small,  or  weak,  towards  a  great  and  powerful  nation,  dooms  the 
former  to  be  the  satellite  of  the  latter. 

Against  the  insidious  wiles  of  foreign  influence,  (I  conjure  you  to 
believe  me,  fellow  citizens,)  the  jealousy  of  a  free  people  ought  to  be 
constantly  awake ;  since  history  and  experience  prove,  that  foreign 
influence  is  one  of  the  most  baneful  foes  of  republican  government. 
But  that  jealousy,  to  be  useful,  must  be  impartial  ;  else  it  becomes  the 
instrument  of  the  very  influence  to  be  avoided,  instead  of  a  defence 
against  it.  Excessive  partiality  for  one  foreign  nation,  and  excessive 
dislike  for  another,  cause  those  whom  they  actuate  to  see  danger  only 
on  one  side,  and  serve  to  veil  and  even  second  the  arts  of  influence  on 
the  other.  Real  patriots,  who  may  resist  the  intrigues  of  the  favourite 
are  liable  to  become  suspected  and  odious  ;  while  its  tools  and  dupes 
usurp  the  applause  and  confidence  of  the  people,  to  surrender  their 
interests. 

The  great  rule  of  conduct  for  us,  in  regard  to  foreign  nations,  is,  in 
extending  our  commercial  relations,  to  have  with  them  as  little  politi 
cal  connection  as  possible.  So  far  as  we  have  already  formed  engage 
ments,  let  them  be  fulfilled  with  perfect  good  faith.  Here  let  us  stop. 

Europe  has  a  set  of  primary  interests,  which  to  us  have  none,  or  a 
74 


586  APPENDIX. 

very  remote  relation.  Hence,  she  must  be  engaged  in  frequent  contro 
versies,  the  causes  of  which  are  essentially  foreign  to  our  concerns. 
Hence,  therefore,  it  must  be  unwise  in  us  to  implicate  ourselves,  by 
artificial  ties,  in  the  ordinary  vicissitudes  of  her  politics  or  the  ordinary 
combinations  and  collisions  of  her  friendships  or  Enmities. 

Our  detached  and  distant  situation  invites  and  enables  us  to  pursue 
a  different  course.  If  we  remain  one  people,  under  an  efficient  govern 
ment,  the  period  is  not  far  off  when  we  may  defy  material  injury  from 
external  annoyance  ;  when  we  may  take  such  an  attitude  as  will  cause 
the  neutrality  we  may  at  any  time  resolve  upon,  to  be  scrupulously 
respected  ;  when  belligerent  nations,  under  the  impossibility  of  making 
acquisitions  upon  us,  will  not  lightly  hazard  the  giving  us  provocation; 
when  we  may  choose  peace  or  war,  as  our  interest,  guided  by  justice, 
shall  counsel. 

Why  forego  the  advantages  of  so  peculiar  a  situation  ?  why  quit 
our  own  to  stand  upon  foreign  ground  ?  why,  by  interweaving  our  des 
tiny  with  that  of  any  part  of  Europe,  entangle  our  peace  and  pros 
perity  in  the  toils  of  European  ambition,  rivalship,  interest,  humour, 
or  caprice  ? 

It  is  our  true  policy  to  steer  clear  of  permanent  alliances  with  any 
portion  of  the  foreign  world ;  so  far,  I  mean,  as  we  are  now  at  liberty 
to  do  it ;  for  let  me  not  be  understood  as  capable  of  patronizing  infi 
delity  to  existing  engagements.  I  hold  the  maxim  no  less  applicable 
to  public  than  to  private  affairs,  that  honesty  is  always  the  best  policy. 

I  repeat  it,  therefore,  let  those  engagements  be  observed  in  their 
genuine  sense.  But,  in  my  opinion,  it  is  unnecessary,  and  would  be 
unwise  to  extend  them. 

Taking  care  always  to  keep  ourselves,  by  suitable  establishments, 
on  a  respectable  defensive  posture,  we  may  safely  trust  to  temporary 
alliances  for  extraordinary  emergencies. 

Harmony,  and  a  liberal  intercourse  with  all  nations,  are  recommended 
by  policy,  humanity,. and  interest.  But  even  our  commercial  policy 
should  hold  an  equal  and  impartial  hand  ;  neither  seeking  nor  grant 
ing  exclusive  favours  or  preferences  ;  consulting  the  natural  course 
of  things  ;  diffusing  and  diversifying  by  gentle  means  the  streams  of 
commerce,  but  forcing  nothing ;  establishing  with  powers  so  disposed, 
in  order  to, give  trade  a  stable  course,  to  define  the  rights  of  our  mer 
chants,  and  to  enable  the  government  to  support  them,  conventional 
rules  of  intercourse,  the  best  that  present  circumstances  and  mutual 
opinion  will  permit,  but  temporary,  and  liable  to  be  from  time  to  time 
abandoned  or  varied  as  experience  and  circumstances  shall  dictate, 
constantly  keeping  in  view,  that  it  is  folly  in  one  nation  to  look  for 


WASHINGTON'S    FAREWELL    ADDRESS.    587 

disinterested  favours  from  another ;  that  it  must  pay  with  a  portion  of 
its  independence  for  whatever  it  may  accept  under  that  character  ;  that 
by  such  acceptance,  it  may  place  itself  in  the  condition  of  having 
given  equivalents  for  nominal  favours,  and  yet  of  being  reproached  with 
ingratitude  for  not  giving  more.  There  can  be  no  greater  error  than 
to  expect,  or  calculate  upon  real  favours  from  nation  to  nation.  It  is  an 
illusion  which  experience  must  cure,  which  a  just  pride  ought  to  dis 
card. 

In  offering  to  you,  my  countrymen,  these  counsels  of  an  old  and  af 
fectionate  friend,  I  dare  not  hope  they  will  make  the  strong  and  lasting 
impression  I  could  wish  ;  that  they  will  control  the  usual  current  of 
the  passions ;  or  prevent  our  nation  from  running  the  course  which 
has  hitherto  marked  the  destiny  of  nations  ;  but  if  I  may  even  flatter 
myself,  that  they  may  be  productive  of  some  partial  benefit,  some  oc 
casional  good  ;  that  they  may  now  and  then  recur  to  moderate  the  fury 
of  party  spirit,  to  warn  against  the  mischiefs  of  foreign  intrigue,  to 
guard  against  the  impostures  of  pretended  patriotism ;  this  hope  will 
be  a  full  recompense  for  the  solicitude  for  your  welfare  by  which  they 
have  been  dictated. 

How  far,  in  the  discharge  of  my  official  duties,  I  have  been  guided 
by  the  principles  which  have  been  delineated,  the  public  records  and 
other  evidences  of  my  conduct  must  witness  to  you  and  to  the  world. 
To  myself,  the  assurance  of  my  own  conscience  is,  that  I  have,  at  least, 
believed  myself  to  be  guided  by  them. 

In  relation  to  the  still  subsisting  war  in  Europe,  my  proclamation 
of  the  22d  of  April,  1793,  is  the  index  to  my  plan.  Sanctioned  by  your 
approving  voice,  and  by  that  of  your  representatives  in  both  houses 
of  Congress,  the  spirit  of  that  measure  has  continually  governed  me  ; 
uninfluenced  by  any  attempts  to  deter  or  divert  me  from  it. 

After  deliberate  examination,  with  the  aid  of  the  best  lights  I  could 
obtain,!  was  well  satisfied  that  our  country,  under  all  the  circumstances 
of  the  case,  had  a  right  to  take,  and  was  bound  in  duty  and  interest 
to  take,  a  neutral  position.  Having  taken  it,  I  determined,  as  far  as 
should  depend  upon  me,  to  maintain  it  with  moderation,  perseverance, 
and  firmness. 

The  considerations  which  respect  the  right  to  hold  this  conduct,  it  is 
not  necessary  on  this  occasion  to  detail.  I  will  only  observe  that,  ac 
cording  to  my  understanding  of  the  matter,  that  right,  so  far  from  being 
denied  by  any  of  the  belligerent  powers,  has  been  virtually  admitted 
by  all. 

The  duty  of  holding  a  neutral  conduct  may  be  inferred,  without  any 
thing  more,  from  the  obligation  which  justice  and  humanity  impose 


588  APPENDIX. 

on  every  nation,  in  cases  in  which  it  is  free  to  act,  to  maintain  inviolate 
the  relations  of  peace  and  amity  towards  other  nations. 

The  inducements  of  interest  for  observing  that  conduct  will  best  be 
referred  to  your  own  reflections  and  experience.  With  me,  a  predomi 
nant  motive  has  been  to  endeavour  to  gain  time*to  our  country  to  settle 
and  mature  its  yet  recent  institutions,  and  to  progress,  without  inter 
ruption,  to  that  degree  of  strength  and  consistency  which  is  necessary 
to  give  it,  humanly  speaking,  the  command  of  its  own  fortunes. 

Though  in  reviewing  the  incidents  of  my  administration,  I  am  un 
conscious  of  intentional  error ;  I  am  nevertheless  too  sensible  of  my 
defects  not  to  think  it  probable  that  I  may  have  committed  many 
errors.  Whatever  they  may  be,  I  fervently  beseech  the  Almighty  to 
avert  or  mitigate  the  evils  to  which  they  may  tend.  I  shall  also  carry 
with  me  the  hope  that  my  country  will  never  cease  to  view  them  with 
indulgence  ;  and  that,  after  forty-five  years  of  my  life  dedicated  to  its 
service,  with  an  upright  zeal,  the  faults  of  incompetent  abilities  will 
be  consigned  to  oblivion,  as  myself  must  soon  be  to  the  mansions  of 
rest. 

Relying  on  its  kindness  in  this  as  in  other  things,  and  actuated  by 
that  fervent  love  towards  it,  which  is  so  natural  to  a  man  who  views  in 
it  the  native  soil  of  himself  and  his  progenitors  for  several  generations  ; 
I  anticipate  with  pleasing  expectation  that  retreat  in  which  I  promise 
myself  to  realize,  without  alloy,  the  sweet  enjoyment  of  partaking,  in 
the  midst  of  my  fellow  citizens,  the  benign  influence  of  good  laws  under 
a  free  government — the  ever  favourite  object  of  my  heart,  and  the 
happy  reward,  as  I  trust,  of  our  mutual  cares,  labours,  and  dangers. 


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